PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will hear out what Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has to say about the proposed declassification of certain letters and correspondence in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project that has hogged the limelight for its huge cost over-run.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to check with him (Ong) first”, Najib said when asked to comment on Ong’s remarks on Sunday that the delay in releasing the PKFZ audit report, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), was caused by another ministry in declassifying certain letters and correspondence.

Ong had told reporters that his ministry was not the cause of the delay in releasing the PwC report but another ministry. He had said that PKA had been seeking the declassification of letters and correspondence pertaining to the PKFZ since the beginning of the year from the other ministry and still awaiting the approval.

It has been reported that the other ministry is believed to be the Ministry of Finance.

The current issue of The Edge weekly reports that the PKFZ project can cost up to RM8 billion instead of RM4.6 billion due to the higher cost of funds and unfavourable financing terms. It is said that the project to build a transshipment hub started off initially with a budget of less than RM2.5 billion.