The PKFZ fiasco: Chronology
Source : The Sun
2002
Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) and Port Klang Authority (PKA) sign deal on Nov 12 in which the former sells 999.5 acres in Pulau Indah to the latter for RM1.09 billion or RM25 psf. KDSB, which is 70% owned by Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, had reportedly bought the land from Pulau Lumut Development Cooperative Bhd for only RM95 million or RM3 psf.
2003
PKA appoints KDSB to develop PKFZ to include office blocks, transshipment facilities light and medium industry facilities and warehouses. The total project cost, excluding land cost, is estimated at RM1.32 billion. KDSB in turn appoints Wijaya Baru Global Bhd as main sub-contractor. Both companies are controlled by Tiong.
2005
PKA and KDSB sign supplemental agreement for additional development works, including building a business class hotel. Total contract value is estimated at RM510.38 million, excluding variation order.
2007
July 18: Dubai-based Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), which was to manage PKFZ, pulls out on July 18, citing “strategic purposes”.
Aug 13: theSun exposes correspondences between Jafza and PKFZ indicating the former quit due to red tape, bureaucracy, interference by politicians and those with vested interests, deliberate incorrect minuting of meetings, issues pertaining to the chain of command and even attempts at tax evasion by Malaysian negotiators.
Then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asks Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy to explain why concerns by Jafza addressed to Chan were not entertained.
Aug 20: theSun reveals that the Transport Ministry had issued four “letters of support” between 2003 and 2006 which were used by turnkey contractor KDSB to raise bonds and get an AAA rating from the Malaysia Rating Corporation Bhd. The documents were, in fact, letters of guarantee which only the Treasury can issue.
Aug 28: Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy denies allegations that PKFZ is a failure. He tells Parliament that since Nov 1, 2006, it had attracted 30 investors bringing in investments of RM725 million and 809 jobs.
Sept 6: PKA general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang and officials from the Transport Ministry appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) but PAC chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad is not satisfied with answers pertaining to the project’s financing.
Oct 18: PAC visits PKFZ but again comes away with more questions than answers.
2008
March 25: Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim proposes that the state government take over PKFZ at book value of RM1.
May 5: Newly-appointed PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng tells theSun that an independent audit has been commissioned for PKFZ.
June 6: Lim Thean Shiang takes over from O.C. Phang as PKA general manager and executive chairman of PKFZ.
April 29: Following declassification of the independent audit report, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat orders that the PriceWaterhouseCoopers findings be made public in a week. He said he intends to submit the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commssion (MACC) and PAC.
Updated: 12:18AM Wed, 06 May 2009