A Malaysia Airlines (MAS) senior employee has lodged his second police report against a Dhaka-based freight company for allegedly under declaring the weight of cargo transported by the airline.

It was lodged at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport police station late yesterday. He had lodged his first complaint o­n April 21.

MAS cargo senior general manager o­ng Jyh Jong and corporate services senior general manager Dr Mohamadon Abdullah were unavailable for comment today, despite numerous attempts to contact them.

Police officials at the KLIA station refused to comment o­n the matter.

Dangerous practice

Silkways is co-owned by member of Parliament for Shah Alam and parliamentary Backbenchers Club chairperson Mohd Zin Mohamed. He could not be reached today. but had previously denied knowledge of operational matters.

The company, which is MAS' general sales (freight) agent in Dhaka, was set up in September 2000.

In his report, the complainant claimed that Silkways Cargo Services Ltd committed fraud by under-declaring the weight of cargo and manipulating the shipment data.

He detailed instances of 'cheating'. o­n May 22, he alleged, the company had under-reported 1,919kg for three shipments of garments o­n a flight from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur.

(Freight carried by MAS must transit at the KLIA, the national carrier's main operations hub, before being sent to the final destination).

The discrepancies were between the information storage media (a set of documents processed from computer weighing reading at KLIA) obtained from MAS and the flight manifests obtained from Dhaka where the weight figures were recorded manually.

The complainant said that, at a rate of US$1.87 (RM7.11) per kg, the under-declaration of 1,919kg in this instance would have resulted in a loss of US$3,589 (RM13,636).

He also said Silkways had under-registered another shipment carrying 133 pieces of garments o­n the same flight, but this was detected in KLIA when the cargo was unloaded.

In his first report, the employee had alleged that between July 14 and Sept 29, 2001, Silkways had offered inducements worth RM1.1 million to several MAS officers to enable the company to slip through the under-declaration in weight reporting.

Based o­n rough estimates, he said MAS may have sustained losses amounting to RM3.6 million over the past two years due to the alleged practice.

Under-declaration of weight could also pose a hazard to passengers as it can affect the balance of the plane.

Accountability required

Copies of the police report were distributed to reporters at a press conference called by DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok at her office in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

An ex-MAS employee - who identified himself o­nly as Muhamad - was present, but the complainant was not there.

Kok rapped Silkways for "continuing to commit fraud" while criticising MAS for not acting against the company.

"Despite lodging a police report, highlighting the issue in Parliament and forwarding a memorandum to the top-level officers of MAS, the national career is still keeping mum o­n the matter," she said.

"MAS top management should realise that it is no longer a private company but a public company owned by the finance ministry. Therefore, MAS needs to be accountable to taxpayers as well as to the government."

Kok who had exposed the issue at a press conference last month, had then submitted memorandum to the finance and transport ministries calling for a thorough probe.

Political influence

The DAP leader also accused Mohd Zin of using his political clout to carry out unscrupulous practices.

"Stern action must be taken against (him) because weight-cheating has caused huge losses for MAS," she alleged.

She said the 'weight cheating' had been highlighted in a joint letter from six MAS sub-agents (freight forwarders) last July to the national carrier. However, they have yet to receive any feedback.

Kok said MAS' silence would o­nly lead to public suspicion that "certain MAS officials are abetting and trying to hide something".

"I will bring this matter up in the next Parliament sitting starting from June 16," she told reporters.

MAS had earlier denied the claims after a o­ne-day internal inquiry, but refused to reveal any related documents.