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speak up!
Reports: 4 Action: 0
NEVER in the history of
this country has there been
so much vigour in the
demand from the public
to get to the bottom of a
scandal-ridden project. The
country has never seen the
enthusiasm and openness
of a minister who is bent on
seeing justice to a problem
which he inherited. Never
has a minister commit- CitizenNades
ted himself to seeing the
cornerstones of good by R. Nadeswaran
governance – transparency
and accountability – being
practised. Never have so many people
been involved in so many committees
presenting their views on one single
government project which had gone
woefully awry.
Today, the task force of legal, ac-
counting and project development
experts, who were appointed to pro-
vide Port Klang Authority (PKA) with
recommendations on how to recoup
some of the RM7.5 billion already sunk
into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ),
will present their views. Heading
the team is Vinayak Pradhan, from
prominent law firm Skrine, who is a
former commissioner with the United
Nations Compensation Commission
and member of the Permanent Court
of Arbitration, and assisted by two
directors of PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC).
This will be the fourth report for the
PKA board. Previously, it had assigned
PwC which produced a comprehen-
sive report with appendices, which
highlighted the damning evidence of
mismanagement.
Later, the Public Accounts Com-
mittee held its hearings and gave its
damning views – PKFZ project was
managed by a “very incompetent
group” of people. Almost immediately
the Transport Ministry-appointed ad
hoc committee on administration and
corporate governance produced an
indictment – the PKA board, the man-
aging body of PKFZ, did not discharge
its fiduciary duties diligently.
The Pradhan Committee report
will provide the PKA board with the
legal implications and remedies on the
actions which resulted in what started
as a RM2 billion project ballooning to
RM12 billion. But reports
must be acted upon. If they
are allowed to gather dust
like the report on the Royal
Commission of Inquiry
into the Bright Sparklers
disaster in Sungai Buloh,
they will be viewed as yet
another exercise to appease
and whet the appetites of
those who demand for the
proverbial pound of flesh.
The PKA board must
adopt and implement the
recommendations in these
reports. Just receiving
them, making them public and warm-
ing their chairs is not acceptable. If
they don’t institute the proposed ac-
tions, it as good as not having them.
In this column on June 10, I asked
these questions of the former direc-
tors: “What were the board members
of the Port Klang Authority doing?
Weren’t they entrusted with the task of
being policymakers and the staff being
the implementers? Did they fail in their
duties? Why was there an oversight?
Why were they kept in the dark? Why
didn’t they ask for regular briefings on
the project? ... Didn’t it occur to them
that something was amiss? Weren’t
they aware that they have to agree
and endorse any agreement that was
entered into?”
Today, after they get the fourth
report in their hands, I would modify
the same questions to the present
board members: “What are you going
to do with these reports? Are you going
to implement the recommendations?
Are you going to lodge police reports
where criminal offences have been
committed? Are you going to seek legal
remedies to recover the ill-gotten gains?
Are you going to seek an order to
impound the passports of the suspects
before they fly the coop? Are you going
to get Mareva injunctions to prevent
them from disposing their assets? Are
you going to get Anton Piller orders
to trace the whereabouts of the profits
from ill-gotten gains? Would you take
action against PKA officers who did
not follow procedures?”
To put the matter in the right per-
spective, let me reiterate that I am not
accusing any individual or corpora-
tion of wrongdoings. That’s not my
TELLING IT AS IT IS theSun | MONDAY AUGUST 10 2009
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letters@thesundaily.com
Ban proposal worrying
THE reports, “MCA slams PAS for
infringing on rights of non-Mus-
lims” (Aug 7) and “PAS confident
should just avoid participating;
don’t dehumanise another just
because one thinks one is more
job. What I am saying is that once the Selangor govt will resolve beer righteous, don’t go and propose
reports have identified the key people, issue”, are alarming. The con- prejudicial laws to stop others
the board is left with little choice but troversy apparently, has arisen from doing it. Be honorable and
to not only seek civil remedies, but following the seizure of beer at a selfless. Others have a mind of
also bring to book the wrongdoers. retail outlet, but which the Majlis their own and we all think dif-
If the directors of the board fail to do Bandaraya Shah Alam has since ferently.
so, they will be no different from their admitted was due to “an over- I would like to quote an
predecessors who sat back and feigned enthusiastic action on the part analogy – they say soccer is a
ignorance on what was taking place in of its licensing director”. beautiful game. Look at how
front of their eyes. The more disturbing issue, Malaysians of all races, genders
If the present board does not act, however, concerns the state- and religions, take to the game.
then it too will be failing in its fiduciary ment that Selangor PAS was We have no qualms or quarrels
duty as required by the Companies Act pushing for a ban on the sale on which club or league anyone
and other laws. Inaction can only lead of beer at 24-hour convenience of us supports. And we are ever
to one action – public interest litigation stores in Muslim-majority areas. so willing to share our views on
against each and every one of them. Did it ever consider the wide- football and sports with oth-
**************************** spread repercussions this sort ers, but when it comes to our
of ruling can lead to? We are all religion, our race, our culture,
ON July 21, I wrote about how one Malaysians. Why can’t we treat etc, we close up and become
Benjamin Netanyahu entered the each other with respect? Why irrational. God made us different
country declaring that he did not suffer must we force our neighbours but we are still all His creatures.
from any symptoms of the H1N1 flu. and friends to only do and act If God wanted us all to be of one
The response from the Health Ministry the way we do things? Why can’t race, He would have made us
was fast and furious and accused “Citi- we all live harmoniously? so. And then, we won’t even be
zen Nades of taking ownership of the A God has endowed each Malaysians.
(H1N1) issue by highlighting it in his one of us with a brain (to think So, for heaven’s sake, before
widely-read column”. In a subsequent wisely) and a heart (to have our country goes deeper into the
column, my riposte was published. compassion). So let us think mire of ethnicity, let’s wake up
On Saturday as I boarded the aircraft rationally and wisely, and be and be proud and show to the
at Coolongatta airport in the Gold sympathetic to others’ feelings world that we can all live to be
Coast, I was contemplating whether I and actions. If we think some- true Malaysians.
should be Fidel Castro, Che Guevara one’s acts or practices (which
or Chairman Mao. Knowing how the are within the confines of our Proud Malaysian
law is sometimes used selectively, I de- laws) to be wrong, then one Petaling Jaya
cided to be myself without wanting to
invite trouble. But when we arrived at
the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal, it was
organised chaos. Two hard-pressed Makes sense to self-regulate
health officers were busy collecting the
forms without even looking at them. WHEN you remove any item san, for causing unnecessary
As long as there were ink markings, without permission, it is termed tension.
it was acceptable but there were some as theft. Beer is not a prohibited Thank you, Tan Sri Khalid Ib-
whose forms were not collected. item and the enforcement of- rahim for your wise decision that
A former national cricketer and a ficers of Majlis Bandaraya Shah a self-regulatory system prevails.
high-ranking officer of our defence Alam had no right to take away Outlets would not object to the
forces can vouch that the form he the beer from the convenience imposition of a rule that there
had filled is still folded and acts as a store. It was a case of “Little should be no sale of beer to
bookmark for the book he was reading Napoleons” taking the law into Muslims and minors. I am a non-
on the flight. I rest my case and saying their own hands. drinker but I respect the rights of
anything more will be an overkill. Even the president of MBSA those who want to drink as it is
admitted that he was unaware not against the law.
R. Nadeswaran hopes PKA chairman of the raid and Ronnie Liu was We do not need to have many
Datuk Lee Hwa Beng and his fellow correct to ask that the beer be laws as long as we regulate
directors will no longer give excuses for returned. The call to strip him of ourselves. All we need is to use
not initiating action to recover monies his post of state local govern- common sense in deciding what
belonging to the people. The writer is ment committee chairman by is right or wrong, good or bad.
editor (special and investigative report- Selangor PAS chief Dr Hassan
ing) at theSun. He can be reached at: Ali was unfounded. If anyone is C.H. Yap
citizen-nades@thesundaily.com to be chided it should be Has- Kuala Lumpur