MARC lowers rating on Perwaja Steel's RM400m debt notes, outlook negative
Greece struggles on reform, lenders may face rising bill
F&N 1Q earnings fall on absence of Coca-Cola contribution, higher material costs
India court ruling to trigger telecoms industry shakeout
Ex-UBS trader refused bail as bank probe deepens
Maxbiz to submit application against Bursa’s proposed delisting plan
Categories
| PAC on PKFZ Ting says not informed of Treasury letter and bond matters |
| Written by Melody Song | |||
| Thursday, 05 November 2009 11:09 | |||
|
According to the accounts of the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on PKFZ on Sept 3, 2009, Ting told the PAC inquiry that he was unsure if he had been informed by the PKA board of the matter despite having attended a signing ceremony for the bonds. Ting was the PKA chairman from 2001 to 2004. “I am sure I was not informed, unless this matter was brought to a PKA meeting,” he said when quizzed by PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid. ”If it was brought to PKA’s meeting, then there should be a minute there, but personally I was not aware there was such a letter.” The bonds to finance the PKFZ transhipment hub were issued by PKFZ developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) via four special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) — Special Port Vehicle Bhd, Transshipment Megahub Bhd, Valid Venture Bhd and Free Zone Capital Bhd. The papers were raised mainly due to four letters of support signed by two former transport ministers. However, the letter in question from the Treasury carried instructions for PKA to raise the bonds themselves instead of relying on the turnkey contractor KDSB. “I was not aware of the Treasury’s directive,” said Ting. “I can’t remember Treasury informed the board or informed the board through the general manager (Datin Paduka OC Phang).” To a question by Gelang Patah MP Tan Ah Eng on whether he had brought up the issue of not being aware of the bond raising despite being board chairman in PKA’s subsequent meetings, Ting maintained that he knew nothing of the letter and therefore could not raise the issue. “I did not suspect anything; I thought this is just something very normal,” he said. Ting replied in the affirmative to a suggestion by Dr Tan Seng Giaw that a civil servant and general manager such as Phang would neither “dare to go against that minister”, nor question the letter. While he acknowledged that there were a series of “unusual decisions” surrounding PKFZ during his stewardship as chairman, he said the PKA board members were not involved in the management of the ports and only discussed issues that skimmed the surface. He said he was unsure of whether all matters were brought to the attention of the PKA board. “Maybe the ministry (of transport) thought we need not be informed of those matters.” According to the PAC’s report that was released yesterday, Ting stated repeatedly that he had full faith in the ministries involved as well as the cabinet, which PKA reported to, and did not question the directives issued. “I do not think anybody asked about the due diligence at that time. Most of these things were directives from the ministry and we accepted this in good faith,” he said. He also replied “I don’t remember” to many of the questions from the chairman and PAC committee members, including the chairman’s query about the implementation of the PKFZ project. “We were informed of the project, but I can’t remember, I don’t think we had a very thorough discussion on the project,” he said. “In our view, the project was actually an order from the ministry and also from the cabinet.” He added that he felt it was a serious matter if instructions given by the ministry (of transport) or cabinet were not carried out. “To me, anyone who wants to make a decision that contradicts the directive needs to be held responsible and I feel the board never dared to make such decisions.” Ting also said he did not recall whether certain documents were presented by the management of the PKA during meetings. “As far as I recall, meetings usually went smoothly and the agenda was always determined by the management,” he said. This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 5, 2009.
|
|||
|
|