Kit Siang: Govt should consider stop making payments on PKFZ

Tags: Lim Kit Siang | PKFZ scandal

Written by Chua Sue-Ann

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:50

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said the cabinet should consider stop making further payments for the troubled Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) until all issues related to the "accountability and integrity" of the project is resolved.

Earlier in the morning, Lim (Ipoh Timur-DAP) had a shouting match with several Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentarians including Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Bintulu-BN) over the PKFZ project.

The project to develop a transhipment hub hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons after its cost escalated from an initial estimate of RM1.96 billion to about RM4.5 billion. The owner of PKFZ — Port Klang Authority (PKA) — is unable to meet its debt obligations on bonds raised to finance the development, prompting the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to provide a RM4.6 billion soft loan to ensure PKA meet the obligations.

The next drawdown of the MoF soft loan is scheduled next week.

On this, Lim said the cabinet should meet to decide whether to stop payment or consider other available options.

"The cabinet should meet to decide if it should stop payment and consider all angles of accountability, integrity," Lim told reporters in the Parliament lobby.

When pressed, Lim said the cabinet should know the next course of action it can take in relation to the project.

"The cabinet should know. They must do something... they cannot do nothing. Something must be done. What should they do I don't know unless I get all the facts," Lim said.

A recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the transshipment hub stated that the total project outlay for PKA could hit RM7.45 billion, including interest costs on the government loan.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:51

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