Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia ruled that the motion tabled by Lim Kit Siang (DAP – Ipoh Timur) was specific and of public interest but not urgent.

“A task force and two committees have been set up to investigate PKFZ,’’ the Speaker said.

Lim had said the Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) audit report was “most unsatisfactory” as its terms of reference were restricted to “a position review” instead of a wide-ranging inquiry.

At the Parliament lobby, Lim said the PKFZ audit report and its appendices should be immediately tabled in Parliament and given to MPs without waiting for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report.

Lim said the PAC report would not be ready in time before the current Parliament meeting ended on June 30.

This was because the PAC would only have its third meeting on the PKFZ on Wednesday, he said.

“She (Parliament secretary Datuk Roosme Hamzah) informed me that the PwC report and its appendices will be tabled in the House together with the PAC report,” he added.

Among the issues which were revealed by the points were weak project management, cost overruns and conflicts of interests.

Among the issues were:

> PKA’s failure to alert the Cabinet in a timely manner of its inability to finance the project from its internal funds following an audit report by the Auditor-General in 2004 that noted that PKA did not have sufficient funds to finance the project;

> PKA’s failure to seek the advice of the Attorney-General while not complying with certain Finance Ministry regulations;

> Potential conflicts of interests arising from the involvement of parties who had prior association with either the land used to develop PKFZ or the turnkey developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB);

> Awarding of the PKFZ development contract to KDSB before a project masterplan was finalised;

> PKA’s projections that it would be in a cumulative cash deficit position in 2012 and would not be able to repay the Finance Ministry soft loan instalments on time;

> PKFZ having a low occupancy rate of 14% which is not generating sufficient revenue to cover its operating expenses.

> PKFZ Sdn Bhd incurring losses since its incorporation and having negative shareholder’s funds as at Sept 30 last year.

> The possible breach of Treasury regulations when the Transport Ministry issued letters of support which could be construed as a guarantee that PKA would meet its obligations on a full and timely basis. Such letters should have been approved by the Finance Ministry.

The report was made public at a press conference by PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng at his office in Port Klang yesterday.

Lee however refused to field any questions on the details of the report and repeatedly asked reporters to view Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s blog for further information.

He said the report would be available online at www.pka-report.com for a period of two weeks while the appendices to the report would be available for public viewing during office hours at PKA at Jalan Pelabuhan, Port Klang until June 10.

“The appendices could not be released like the report due to its voluminous nature,” he said.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat also directed authority chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng to submit a copy of the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Accounts Committee.

The report, which was drawn up by accounting firm Pricewater­houseCoopers, was made public during a press conference by Lee in Port Klang yesterday.

In his blog posting yesterday, Ong said he had directed the authority to carry out the following:

> SEEK professional advice on the restructuring of financial obligations of the authority;

> IMPROVE and tighten governance issues at management and board levels of the authority; and

> FURTHER beef up the day-to-day management of the zone to strengthen operations and improve its financial returns.

Ong said the release of the report was only a small part of the job that needed to be accomplished.

“We need to seriously act on the findings of the report to make sure that the interest of the people are fully protected and that this Government walks the talk,” he said.

He added that his ministry was not only committed to have the report released but it was also determined to ensure that all possible remedies that were within its jurisdiction were explored.

In his blog posting on Wednesday, Ong had said he was a strong advocate for the report to be made public.

“I have advocated since April last year that the public should know the truth. It has been a long journey for me personally. It is one that is fraught with challenges and hurdles from both within and without,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry said in a statement yesterday that Government was confident that the facts and issues presented in the report would finally put to an end to speculations.

It said the Government also shared the deep concern of Malaysians about the costs of the project as well as its weak governance and project management as revealed in the report.

The ministry said the action to commission a position review into zone and the subsequent release of the results demonstrated the Government’s commitment to be transparent and to act on the findings in a firm manner to lessen the public’s burden.

“The Government has, through today’s action, shown that it really means to change from the old ways of governing. It demonstrates the openness and transparency espoused by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s People First, Performance Now administration,” it added.

The ministry would ensure that the zone became a viable project in the long term in line with the original intent of turning Port Klang into a regional transhipment hub.

It is understood that the authority is working with legal advisers and financial consultants to define the scope and parameters of the necessary actions based on the directives given by Ong.

The report is available on www.pka-report.com

The release of the report was a clear instruction from Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, said PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng at a press conference in the PKA office here Thursday.

“I was also instructed to hand the report over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. I’ll be there tomorrow at 8am,” he said, adding that this was because PKA does not have any investigative authority.

He cautioned that the release of the report was on certain conditions, including the media not having the authority to rely on the report to arrive at any conclusions and that PwC is not obliged to respond to any queries from other parties, as its duty of care is solely to PKA.

Lee however refused to field any questions on the details of the report and repeatedly asked reporters to view Ong’s blog for further information.

He said the report would be available online at www.pka-report.com for a period of two weeks while the appendices to the report would be available for public viewing during office hours at PKA at Jalan Pelabuhan, Port Klang until June 10.

“The appendices could not be released like the report due to its voluminous nature,” he said.

The report highlighted 20 issues concerning the project’s management and governance by the PKA.

Among them were weak project management, cost overruns and conflicts of interests:

* PKA’s failure to alert the Cabinet in a timely manner of its inability to finance the project from its internal funds following an audit report by the Auditor-General in 2004 that noted that PKA did not have sufficient funds to finance the project;

* PKA’s failure to seek the advice of the Attorney-General while not complying with certain Finance Ministry regulations;

* Potential conflicts of interests arising from the involvement of parties who had prior association with either the land used to develop PKFZ or the turnkey developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB);

* Awarding of the PKFZ development contract to KDSB before a project masterplan was finalised;

* PKA’s projections that it would be in a cumulative cash deficit position in 2012 and would not be able to repay the Finance Ministry soft loan instalments on time;

* PKFZ having a low occupancy rate of 14% which is not generating sufficient revenue to cover its operating expenses;

* PKFZ Sdn Bhd incurring losses since its incorporation and having negative shareholder’s funds as at Sept 30 last year; and

* The possible breach of Treasury regulations when the Transport Ministry issued letters of support which could be construed as a guarantee that PKA would meet its obligations on a full and timely basis. Such letters should have been approved by the Finance Ministry.

Earlier report:

PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet, which discussed the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project yesterday, is seeking additional information on what had occurred, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

“Yes, we did discuss and we are collecting additional information on several matters that had happened,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said in his blog that after deliberating on the issue for the third time, the Cabinet finally gave the green light for the PKFZ report to be released in its entirety.

Ong said that the Cabinet, at its weekly meeting yesterday, agreed that the Government needed to be transparent on the issue.

He said the Port Klang Authority (PKA) was directed to release the report “as soon as everything is in order”. It is believed his Ministry has to come up with certain additional information before a full report can be released.

The PKFZ issue, Ong said, had been played up and used by the Opposition as their political tool since a few years ago.

“I am glad that the Prime Minister and my Cabinet colleagues share my aspirations that our Government should be transparent and deal with the issues of the day. Sweeping problems under the carpet is not an option,” he wrote in his blog www.ongteekeat.net.

He said that with the release of the report, the Government has proven that it has nothing to hide and that the new administration was prepared to reveal the truth as well as take appropriate action to correct any wrong.

He said this was because the issue had been deliberated during the last two Cabinet meetings.

“The Port Klang Authority (PKA) has no power to release the report because it is being discussed at the Cabinet level,” he told a press conference after chairing a PKA board meeting here on Thursday.

He was unable to say when the Cabinet would decide whether to make the report public or not, adding that he had not had a chance to meet Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat after Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The Government had last year instructed PKA to commission an audit on the PKFZ project after a public outcry over massive cost-overruns. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was appointed to task.

The ministry has frequently promised that the report would be made public. Lee had written to PwC on April 30 to seek its consent following Ong’s instruction to release the report within seven days.

However, PwC replied on May 4 that consent would be given subject to certain terms and conditions, requesting indemnity.

On the matter of issuing an indemnity letter to the audit firm, Lee said on Thursday that PKA had been informed by its legal advisers that it could still initiate legal action against the audit firm if the need arose.

“We were told that we could countersue PwC if there was negligence on its part in the event a third party sues them,” he said.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has started investigations into the controversy, and will intensify its probe once it has obtained a copy of the PwC report which has detailed cost overruns amounting to billions of ringgit and a trail of improper and poor decisions during the development of the project.

It is learnt that a team from the Putrajaya MACC has been investigating and inquiring from those in the know about the project.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the MACC is expected to intensify its probe once it has obtained a copy of the report by accounting firm Pricewaterhouse-Coopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (PwC).

They said the MACC would study the report and see if there were new elements which the commission could follow up on.

The MACC is also expected to contact several people in the Port Klang Authority (PKA) as part of its investigations.

MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull confirmed investigations were in progress but declined to elaborate.

It is learnt that the report, which has yet to be made public, detailed cost overruns amounting to billions of ringgit and a trail of improper and poor decisions during the development of the PKFZ.

The PKFZ project was for a cluster of offices and light industrial buildings in the port area, originally estimated to cost RM1.9bil.

However, sources said the report stated that the project cost would swell to RM7.5bil, partly due to interest costs over a 20-year period.

Sources said one of the recommendations was for the PKA to restructure a RM4.6bil soft loan from the Finance Ministry to avoid a potential default in 2012.

The cost would expand further to RM12.5bil if the loan from the Finance Ministry were rescheduled to match PKA’s projected cash flows, the sources said.

They added that PKA’s options included loan rescheduling, government grant and privatisation.

The sources also said there were PKFZ development proposals which were not tabled to the Cabinet for approval.

They also said development contracts totalling RM1.8bil were awarded to a company called Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd without competitive bids.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, meanwhile, said the PwC report was discussed by the Cabinet yesterday.

The issue was also the subject of deliberations last week. Cabinet ministers are also believed to have been given copies of the PwC report.

“The Cabinet members were given the opportunity to study the report in greater detail. I understand that PKA has managed to resolve several technical issues with PwC to release the report, including the issue of indemnity,” he said in his blog yesterday.

Ong said he remained committed to a policy of transparency and openness.

“This is what a ‘People First, Performance Now’ government should be. The people not only have the right to know but should also be assured that the Government is acting in their best interest,” he said.

PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said PwC had agreed in principle to the release of the report to the public but needed indemnity from the port authority.

Lee was speaking to reporters after a PKA emergency full board meeting to discuss the issue here yesterday.

Lee added that the PKFZ report was expected to be released after the sole issue at the PKA level was resolved.

It was reported earlier that Lee had written to PwC on April 30 to seek its consent following the instruction by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to release the report within seven days.

However, PwC replied on May 4 that consent would be given subject to certain terms and conditions.

Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said the report could only be released with the consent of its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

He said in a statement today that PwC had made it clear that the said report is confidential to Port Klang Authority and must not be reproduced or distributed, “in whole or in part, to any other party in any way without prior consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd.”

Lee said he had earlier written to PwC on April 30 to seek consent to publicly release the report following the instructions of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to release the report within seven days.

“PwC replied on May 4 that consent will be given subject to certain terms and conditions. On Tuesday I met with representatives from PwC and have decided to call for an emergency Board meeting to seek the Board members’ approval on the terms and conditions for the release of the report.

“In light of this, I’ve informed the Transport Minister that I have to resolve this technical issue before the report can be made public despite the deadline given by him,” he said.

Lee gave his assurance that the matter would be sorted out as soon as possible as it is his responsibility to ensure that the full reports, together with the declassified documents are officially released to the public.

“I am concerned with the leaks to the press and wish to state that I and my office play no part in it,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: There was no attempt by the Transport Ministry or Port Klang Authority (PKA) to delay or stop the release of the audit re-port on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).

PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat had stressed to the PKA that the report had to be released quickly with all relevant documents declassified to make full disclosure to the public.

“It was the PKA that commissioned the report and likewise the onus to declassify the documents also rests with our port authority.

“This has now been accomplished and I think the delay has not been significant given the nature and volume of the documents involved,” Lee said in a statement.

He said he would facilitate the process and ensure that the matter was properly resolved so that the PKFZ could move forward without the heavy baggage of the past.

Now that the report on the PKFZ by auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was completed, the PKA and PWC were now working on the final details for the report to be made public.

“I wish to thank the relevant ministries, government bodies and agencies for the cooperation extended to the PKA and PWC in this very tedious exercise.

“We at the PKA remain steadfast to the commitment that the Government is accountable to the people and that they have the right to know the truth,” Lee added.

In December, Ong and the PKA held a press conference to release a chronology for the PKFZ project together with statistics showing how the PKFZ had grown.

Ong had then said that the PWC report would address whether the project was handled professionally, and if it was cost-effective or exorbitant.

He had also announced in May last year that an audit exercise would be carried out following a public outcry over the RM4.6bil “soft loan” given by the Government to revive the PKFZ.

PETALING JAYA: The audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) is ready and the Port Klang Authority (PKA) has been given one week to make it public. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said he would contemplate submitting the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Accounts Committee after its release.

Writing this in his blog (ongteekeat.net), the minister said that by releasing the audit report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers he would be keeping a pledge he made earlier.

“I have pledged to ensure transparency on this issue and I intend to keep my word,” he wrote.

He also announced that he had decided to extend the services of PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng whose term of office expired on March 31.

“One of his key priorities now is to ensure the release of the report,” he said.

Ong, who is the MCA president, said that he had directed the PKA last year to commission an independent and credible firm to look into the PKFZ controversy.

“The delay in completing the report is due to several technical issues, including the declassification of key government documents related to the investigations,” he explained.

Now that the report was ready, it was only natural for the PKA, which had commissioned the report, to release the findings.

On Sunday, Ong hit out at his critics, saying that it was grossly unfair for some “snipers”, including certain individuals from certain media, to ignore that declassification had to be sought before the report could be released.

The 405ha PKFZ transshipment hub has been dogged by controversy ever since it was revealed that its original development cost had ballooned from the original less than RM2.5bil to RM4.6bil.

Former Transparency International chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam commended Ong for handling the situation very well, “by giving due respect to the PKA and allowing it to release the report.”

He said that Ong, by ordering the release of the report, was also ensuring that public interest was upheld.

“It is right and proper that he submits the report to the MACC and Public Accounts Committee after it is released,’’ he said.

If there was any wrongdoing, those concerned must be brought to book, Navaratnam added.