KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Aug 2009: Due process has been observed in the appointment of Datuk Lee Hwa Beng as the Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairperson, the office of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said.
In a statement, Ong’s political aide Simon Lim said questions raised by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd deputy chief executive Datuk Faizal Abdullah on Lee’s appointment were to derail the work of the special taskforce set up to probe into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
“We hope to refocus the attention of the public to the real issue at hand, which is to take appropriate legal action or proceedings against the parties concerned, and for the relevant enforcement agencies to carry out due investigation and prosecution deemed fit under the law,” he said.
Faizal claimed that Ong had personally extended a second term for Lee, which he said should not be the case as the appointment should be made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
He also challenged Ong to produce Lee’s formal letter of appointment.
Lim said the ministry did not have to respond to unilateral deadlines set by third parties.
Lee had lodged a police report after the task force found billing discrepancies of between RM500 million and RM1 billion to Kuala Dimensi and BTA Architects, the project’s development contractor.
Kuala Dimensi is the turnkey contractor of the project now being investigated by the PKFZ special task force and the Public Accounts Committee. — Bernama
