Port Klang Authority (PKA) board members had placed too much trust in the management of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found today.

NONE"There's too much trust... trusting the management of PKFZ and that's the conclusion... that there's too much trust so they just followed everything that PKFZ told them... so at the PKA level, that is what they do," said PAC chairperson Azmi Khalid.

Asked if the board members would be held responsible for this, he said there was nothing wrong with that but pointed out that PKA's then-chief executive officer (CEO) was also PKFZ CEO.

"The thing is, the CEO of PKA is also the CEO of PKFZ...by right, all information should be provided by the CEO...we are calling her (OC Phang) and she is also coming next week.

On whether Phang, in her capacity as CEO at that time, had failed to provide full details to the PKA board members, Azmi said:

"We do not know, but this is the picture that we get... but she should have better information (to be given) to us," added Azmi.

No thorough questioning

He was speaking to reporters after three-and-a-half hour testimonies by nine former PKA board members who had represented the respective ministries and agencies in the board.

Azmi said many of the decisions made by PKFZ were just accepted by the PKA board members without much questioning.

"Several matters were not thoroughly questioned, so we cannot make a decision today. There is more which we want to further investigate," he added.

The PKFZ, a transshipment hub built on a 405-hectare site in Port Klang which also houses warehouses, office blocks and a four-star hotel, became a subject of controversy after it was exposed that its development cost ballooned from RM2.5 billion to RM4.6 billion.

The PKA bought the 1,000-acre PKFZ land in Pulau Indah from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) at a cost of RM25 per square feet. KDSB was later appointed the turnkey developer of the project.

The issue is of huge public interest as the PKA obtained a finance ministry soft loan of RM4.632 billion to fund the project.

Lee Hwa Beng called tomorrow

On today's proceedings, Azmi said it was not to investigate the officers invited but to ascertain how the information was channelled to PKA board members.

"Thus, it is obvious that many decisions were made without the full knowledge of the board and these officers (who were called up), they come and go.

"As their tendency as a board member is limited, they may not understand the full background and there are also officers who do not attend the board meetings as they are busy," he added.

However, Azmi stressed that PAC would not come to any conclusion based on today's interviews.

"So, right now, we cannot conclude...we have to tie up...piece it like jigsaw puzzle," he said.

Azmi said PAC would also be calling in the chairperson of the special task force set up by the transport ministry to give the PKA recommendations for follow-up actions to be taken by the government, in respect of the PKFZ audit report.

"They have their own task force, we want to get some information also...they have a lot of information that we don't have access to. We are also calling KDBS next week, but depending on whether they are available (or not)...we have plans for next week," he said.

He added that PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng had been called to testify tomorrow.

-Bernama