Ong briefs Najib on PKFZ issue

PUTRAJAYA, 4 Sept 2009: Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat today met Datuk Seri Najib Razak to brief the prime minister on the investigations into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The meeting, which lasted for about an hour, started at 10.30am at the prime minister’s office. Ong, however, declined to meet the media.

Earlier at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters, Ong told reporters that he would meet Najib to brief him on the PKFZ issue. 

Ong, who is MCA president, said the meeting would not touch on the latest development in the party or the possibility of having a mediator to resolve its leadership crisis.

“No, no discussion [on the MCA] and don’t add your imagination into my statement,” he told reporters.

Ong was at the MACC office at 8.30am to continue giving his statement to the commission. He was also at the MACC office yesterday to have his statement taken.

“The session yesterday had to be postponed as I had to rush to Kelantan,” he said.

An aide to Ong confirmed that the minister had been at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya for one hour today. Yesterday, Ong was quizzed for three hours by the MACC for the first time over the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project, and an allegation that he had received RM10 million from the project’s turnkey contractor.

The MACC is probing the controversial PKFZ project after its development cost rose from RM2.6 billion to RM4.5 billion.

Ong has denied receiving RM10 million from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing last year, and has since lodged a police report and filed a RM500 million legal suit against Tiong.

Tiong alleged that he gave the money to Ong last year for MCA activities. 

Earlier, three MCA officials, including party treasurer Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng, were quizzed by the MACC on the money allegation.

Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, chairperson of the Port Klang Authority (PKA), which owns the project, has lodged a police report over billing discrepancies of between RM500 million and RM1 billion. — Bernama