Sep 9, 09 8:05pm
The cabinet has today decided to establish a super task force, headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan, to investigate the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.
Announcing this late this evening, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak
said the task force would also include the attorney-general, Treasury secretary-general and representatives from Transport and Finance ministries.
"The task force is to probe the PKFZ scandal and those people who were responsible for it," said Najib.
The decision was made following a cabinet meeting to discuss the final report by a special task force set up by Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat to further probe the multi-billion-ringgit scandal.
Apparently, the report was "incomplete" and thus necessitates the establishment of a super task force.
No deadline for task force
"The issue is divided into three. One is to identify if there was any
misappropriation or abuse of power or anyone acted against the law. This would be handled by the police and the attorney-general. We want a through and complete investigation into the matter. Truth should be the priority.
"The second is good governance. We want to know if, since the start of the project, there was good governance.
"And the third is what we could do with the PKFZ now which could give us value for money. We also want to reduce the operational cost," said Najib during a 'buka puasa' function at his Sri Setia residence in Putrajaya.
"As for the second and third aspects, we have decided to set up the task force. This task force would report back to the cabinet and then we would initiate the necessary action," he added.
Najib said that though the task force has not been given any deadline to report back to the cabinet, its members were all aware that the report should be completed as soon as possible.
To a question, Najib said the task force's role was separate from the on-going police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations.
"They (MACC) are looking at some reports (that were lodged). That would be separate from what the task force has been entrusted to do," he said.
Not aimed to take powers away from Ong
He also dismissed suggestions that the cabinet was taking the PKFZ probe out of the Transport Ministry's hands.
"The task force will consider the Transport Ministry's reports. But this is bigger than the purview of the Transport Ministry, thus it is only proper that the KSN (Sidek) be tasked to lead the task force.
"This underscores the government's seriousness in the matter," he said.
The task force would be established immediately, although the first meeting will only be held after Aidilfitri celebrations.
No time frame has been set for the report to be produced nor did he reveal if the report would be made public, like previous probes commissioned by the Transport Ministry.
Asked if the task force's terms of reference would be made public, Najib replied: "Cabinet has given them the guidelines. They know what to do."
When pressed on whether he was diluting the transport minister's role in the PKFZ probe, an irate Najib asked: "Why should I? We're in the same government. The representative of the Transport Ministry is in the task force. Don't split us. We are in this together as a government."
Key personalities identified
Last Friday, Ong and members of the task force including its head, lawyer Vinayak Pradhan, from the legal firm Skrine, had a meeting with Najib for one hour at the Prime Minister's office.
Members of Transport Ministry's task force included Lim Chee Wee, from Skrine, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory Services managing director Chin Kwai Fatt, and PwC senior executive director Lim San Peen.
Several media organisations have reported that the task force had identified serious breaches by key personalities including former transport minister Chan Kong Choy, former Port Klang Authority general manager OC Phang and PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd owner Tiong King Sing.
Chan is mulling legal suits against the media organisations which had allegedly implicated him in the scandal.