LANGKAWI: The onus is on the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to determine when the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) could be released, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

“The onus is on PKA,” he said, adding that any enquiry on when the audit report could be made public should be directed to the PKA.

Ong was speaking to reporters after the launch of AirAsia Bhd’s Langkawi-Singapore route here yesterday. The minister had on April 29 given PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng one week to release the audit report.

PKA did not meet the Wednesday deadline. Lee had subsequently issued a statement explaining that he could not meet the deadline as he had to seek PKA board’s approval on the terms and conditions imposed by PwC for the release of the report.

Lee said PKA had to resolve the technical issue before the report could be made public. As of yesterday, PKA had not given any indication when the report would be released.

PKA had commissioned PwC to do an audit on PKFZ last year after a public outcry over the huge cost overrun, controversial land deals, and the involvement of several prominent politicians.

PKA has had to rely on a RM4.6 billion standby facility from the government to redeem several tranches of bonds issued to finance the project. The cost of the project is said to have ballooned to over RM10 billion.