Wednesday, August 29, 2007

PKFZ - Some Unanswered Questions


PKFZ - satellite photo from Google Earth

That the Speaker would shoot down Lim Kit Siang’s bid to introduce an emergency motion to debate the PKFZ issue in parliament was a foregone conclusion. There have been a number of statements made by the Ministry of Transport but some questions remain unanswered:

> Lembaga Pelabuhan Klang (LPK) bought the land at RM25 psf when parcels of reclaimed land were going at between RM12 - RM15 psf depending on the size of the parcel. How did LPK arrive at the figure of RM25 psf? Who carried out the valuation of the property? Normally, the Government Valuers would have been called in to value this. Why were they not called? Is it true a Valuer linked to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. carried out this valuation?

> LPK paid Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. RM1.088 billion for 999.5 acres of land at RM25 psf as against the advice of the Attorney-General and the KSU of the Ministry of Finance. Giving the benefit of the doubt, if we add RM3 psf for infrastructure, etc., the cost will be RM18 psf. This would have cost RM784 million minus encumbrances and LPK must have paid RM305 million extra!

> Free zone facilities such as warehouse, office complex and Customs complex - Nobody develops such ready-made facilities in Free Zones. One cannot pre-determine the needs of clients. Why were all these facilities built without knowing the needs of the clients?

> It is understood that the Board decided to develop the first 500 acres and gave the turnkey job to their friends, Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. for RM400 million. Who was the expert to decide as to what is the type of facilities to be developed i.e. the size of warehouses, business complexes, etc. Was there a survey done from the potential clients as to the needs? If there is a report on this, can it be made available? Everyone in the construction and engineering consultancy business know that turnkey projects cost 30% above open tender prices. Did LPK pay RM100 million more than it should?

> To add insult to injury, it was decided to proceed with the second 500 acres development. The cost ballooned to RM1.85 billion. It is understood this includes professional fees of 10% amounting to RM180 million and Variation Orders of 20% amounting to RM360 million. At the original cost of RM400 million for the development of the first phase and giving the benefit of escalation in price for the 2nd phase amounting to RM600 million, the total cost inclusive of professional fees should only be RM1 billion. What happened to the RM850 million?

> Assuming that the above figures are far from the truth (and I stand corrected), let us give the benefit of the doubt and add another magical 30% for miscellaneous costs which obviously must have included exotic cars for those who matter. Which means we are adding RM600 million to the total project cost which now hits RM2.65 billion. So what has happened to the RM2 billion?

> A little bird tells me that the general manager of LPK’s appointment has been extended for the third time past her retirement age - surely without precedent in the civil service. The same little bird tells me that the GM is also the chairman of the Free Zone. Takde orang lain yang sesuai lagi ke?

9 comments:

  1. if only the STAR paper does a little bit of homework, the headlines would not be "NO HANKY PANKY" in KPA. its no longer the people's paper. its a paper to serve its political masters and to sanctify powers-that-be corrupt practices.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That goes to show that the BN gomen almost 50 years at helm creates a monopoly of power that is increasingly corruptive.While the combination of political power and cronism is especially corrosive.

    Do they(gomen) really care what the rakyat think? Even our august house of representative is turned into an opera house full of "baduts tutup mata sebelah!"

    Yet the rakyat,esp.,Melayus will still vote these "mangkuk hanyut" in,when election comenth.

    cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Other questions to ask:

    1. How many contracts were issued for this cost of 4.6 billion?
    2. What are the contracts and please state their value?
    3.Was there an independent valuation done on contract prices.
    4.Why was the full amount of $4.6 bill given to Kuala Dimensi?
    5. Why no tender as it is public funds.?
    6. And on behalf of UMNO members, why all this contracts given to non Bumi companies when publicly they shout about NEP?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Captain

    The people who cream off taxpayers money in this scandal are the UMNO politicians, their relatives ie son in laws etc and their cronies.

    The is PKFZ reall stinks when the facts showed the land was bought at almost twice the price and who pocketed the money?

    The people had been robbed by UMNO and quietly condoned by the UMNO leaders in Govt.

    In Parliament, the UMNO members shut down debate...

    The only way the country can get out of this mess, and other messes eg judiciary etc is for the Malay Rulers to intervene, and intervene quickly.

    And the UMNO Ministers are now playing the race card, bringing in the Social Contract issue, blaming the Sun as DAP (read Chinese) and being anti Malay etc.

    I just pray our Malay brothers and sisters don't buy this race card being played by Ministers like Zainuddin Maidin. Even Ku Li being a statesman, have gone into play the race card.

    As election nears, UMNO is raising the stakes, a dangerous racial stake while we all are trying to fix this PKFZ scandal and bring the culprits to book.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Captain,

    So how do we go about getting a Royal Commission to look into this matter?

    Taxpayers' monies were used to 'bail out' this project via a 'soft loan' by the government, ostensibly, to remedy the government's (MOT) commitments to the financial institution(s).

    And yet, the government's accountability to the Malaysian citizenry is practically non-existent, including the rejection of DAP's motion to urgently debate on the issue. Not all of the popular votes went the BN way in 2004.

    The PKFZ fiasco is the ultimate test
    to AAB's administration in terms of reducing/eliminating wanton wastage /corruption because if not handled judiciously, it will create an even larger problem with the IDR, NCER, ECER, etc coming up soon.

    Your move BN. We know who to vote for in the next GE especially for the MP positions.

    I just wish the non-UMNO malays could actually see what UMNO is doing with their collective future.

    "Dulu kerana tak berani mendurhaka kepada Sultan, kami di-jajah. Sekarang tak tahu membantah si-pembesar kerana minda masih di-jajah".

    ReplyDelete
  6. May 6.48 billion fire-ants make nest in the all the Speaker's orifices and multiply.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes Captain Yusof, It seems that the lady GM of LPK who is also Chairman of PKFZ knows too much to be sacrificed as a scapegoat.

    I recall that the name of a headland near to the PKPZ was changed from Tanjung Mani to Tanjung Harapan, perhaps it now needs be renamed "Tanjung Tiada Harapan Lagi"!!!!!!
    Unless..................... we wake up.
    Wake up every voter, use your vote wisely, the future of Malaysia is in your hands at the next General Election.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Datuk Chan Kong Choy is on 2 weeks leave due to health reason. Pak lah approved it. He must be having a big headache due to this PKFZ fiasco. If the headache wont clear within 2 weeks, he may have to retire due to embarassment not for health reason.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Capt Karim:

    For obvious reasons I think, 'Tanjung Mani' has always been referred to or 'nicknamed' by old sailors and pilots as 'Tanjung Gila'.

    Perhaps they can now call it 'Tanjung Gila Money' or something ...

    ReplyDelete

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