PKFZ scandal will come to nothing with OTK losing his MCA Presidency

As I expected, PKFZ scandal will die a slow and quiet death without anyone being purnished for corruption or etc.!

PETALING JAYA (April 18, 2010) : All previous directors of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) under whose watch the nation lost more than RM12 billion in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal have been let off the hook.

This deals a severe blow to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat's promise to bring to book all those responsible for the scandal and the current Board's undertaking to leave no stone unturned to hold its predecessors responsible for the massive losses.

At its meeting two weeks ago, the PKA board decided not to take any form of action against members of previous boards which allowed the management of PKFZ to enter into dubious and non-existent deals.

The 11 directors "reached a consensus" that although the previous directors failed in their fiduciary duties; it was not intentional as “they did not personally gain from such breaches".

Their reasoning grossly undermines the findings of a PKA-commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report into the scandal which among others noted of potential conflicts of interests of parties with either the land or PKFZ turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB).

The PwC report noted that the board “did not exercise oversight and adequate governance” over the implementation of the project which included that no board approval was sought when the PKA’s Common Seal was affixed to agreements; when delivery of the land was accepted without KDSB completing the infrastructure works; and when variation orders totalling RM62.6 million were accepted.

The current board’s decision is a far-cry from its gung-ho attitude when it was set up in 2008 under present chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng. Then, it undertook to leave no stone unturned in getting all those responsible for the debacle to be held answerable.

When contacted today, Lee said there was lack of evidence to go after the former directors and that the board had taken the advice of lawyers. He declined to elaborate.

Lee had said on March 1 said that PKA had yet to let the former directors off the hook due to a lack of clear evidence.

Does the timing of these change of events come closely with Ong Tee Keat losses in the MCA election?

The face of a lame duck!