Chan will return soon to assist PKFZ investigations

2009/11/05

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy said he is overseas and will return soon to cooperate with the authorities following yesterday's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report which cited him for criminal breach of trust (CBT) over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) development project.

"I am prepared to cooperate with the relevant investigative authorities to provide further clarification and assistance with regard to this matter," he said in a statement today.

"I am currently overseas and will return to the country soon. I hope this brief statement will clarify any unnecessary speculation," he added.

The PAC recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) or the police investigate Chan and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang for CBT in connection with the scandal-ridden project that ballooned in cost from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion.

The report said three letters of support issued by Chan and three letters of undertaking by Phang, all unauthorised by the Finance Ministry, were an implicit guarantee from the government that there would be allocations for PKA to enable it to meet its financial obligations under the development agreement for PKFZ.

In his one-page statement, Chan said when he became Transport Minister on July 1, 2003, the purchase of the land for PKFZ had been completed and that he had, during his tenure, explained in detail the three letters he had issued on several occasions including in parliamentary proceedings.

"It is utmost unfortunate that this matter has been raised again. I had stated in the PAC hearing on 29th July 2009 that the three letters of support signed by me were in fact "letters of support" and not "guarantee letters"," said Chan, who held the transport portfolio until last year after which he retired from active politics.

"This is also the opinion given by a senior Malaysian lawyer and a renowned Queen’s Counsel. I signed the letters based on my sincere belief that they were in fact letters of support," he added.

The PAC report said the PKFZ land was acquired at 67 per cent higher than government valuation and if procedures were followed, the government would have had to spend only RM442.13 million and saved RM645.87 million.

With the 7.5 per cent interest rate agreed by Phang, which was also unauthorised by the government, the cost of the land rose to RM1.818 billion, the report said. - Bernama