MP calls for Selangor parking papers to be released quickly

PKR's Lee Chean Chung, the MP for Petaling Jaya, says the public has the right to know the details about the Selangor Intelligent Parking project.

Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung said he wanted to review the documents first before making further comments.

PETALING JAYA:

 Documents related to the Selangor Intelligent Parking privatised project should be made public as soon as possible, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung said today.

Lee said “the rakyat has the right to know”, following the announcement last night that most of the documents relating to the project would be declassified.

The MP, who is from PKR, had previously criticised the classification of the documents as an official secret. He said the issue of the privatised parking system in Selangor was a matter of public interest.

Lee welcomed the statement by Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari last night that a majority of the documents would be declassified. But he withheld further comment, saying he wanted to review the declassified documents first.

“I can’t judge anything yet,” he said when asked if the declassification of the documents was a positive development. “But they should be declassified immediately to uphold the freedom of information.”

Selangor has a Freedom of Information Enactment, which was passed 15 years ago.

Last month, Lee called on the Selangor government to clarify why documents related to the project were classified as official secrets, purportedly because its disclosure could “seriously endanger national security or defence”.

Blocking public access to documents on grounds of national security was illogical and could erode public trust in the state government’s reform credentials, he said then.

Last night, Amirudin acknowledged that some documents had been made classified following standard procedure; he said he would not prevent their disclosure.

The project has faced scrutiny following reports that an additional concessionaire, Selmax Sdn Bhd, had been roped in shortly after Rantaian Mesra Sdn Bhd was announced as the original operator on July 9.

A Bursa Malaysia filing on July 15 showed that Selmax had secured a long-term concession from several local councils, prompting questions over potential conflicts of interest and transparency.

A Malaysiakini report also linked the company to a member of the Selangor royal family. - FMT