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THREE ASSEMBLYMEN
AMONG SEVEN ARRESTED
Now PR holds
sitting in hotel
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
IPOH: Six months ago, the Pakatan Rakyat
(PR) assemblymen in Perak held their “state
assembly meeting” under a tree. Yesterday,
they did it again – this time in a hotel – to
justify their claim that they are the rightful
state government.
Former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamad
Nizar Jamaluddin and speaker V. Sivakumar
led 27 PR assemblymen who marched to
the State Secretariat building from the DAP
headquarters at 9.45am.
However, the group was stop by the police
outside a 30m radius of the building. Police
had obtained a court order to prohibit the
public from going within 30m of the building,
except for the government officers who work
there, from 1am yesterday to 11am today.
Police arrested seven people – Setiawan
assemblyman and state DAP chief Datuk
Ngeh Koo Ham, Malim Nawar assemblyman
Keshvinder Singh, Simpang Pulai assembly-
man Chang Ming Kai, a press photographer,
who was arrested after he claimed he was
pushed by the police, and three others.
They were released later on police bail.
When negotiating with the police, Ngeh
had argued that the court order was not
legal as they had failed to prove the order
had been gazetted.
However, state
Criminal Investigation
Department chief
Glenn Sinnapah told
the assemblymen
they were gathering
illegally.
The police then
began to disperse the
crowd, which now
included supporters
from non-governmental
organisation Kesatuan
Pemuda Melayu, who dis- the state assemblymen on Aug 13 to attend
played banners expressing the sitting.
support for Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Off “The meeting must be convened, so I will
Abdul Kadir. limits ... use the doctrine of necessity again to chair
At a press conference, Mohamad Nizar the meeting at another place,” he said.
police
said although the PR assemblymen accepted When the assemblymen gathered at
prevent
the court order to prohibit people from go- Heritage Hotel later in the morning, they
the PR
ing near the State Secretariat building, the “endorsed” the privilege committee’s report,
assemblymen
elected representatives should not be ob- which recommended that the Speaker, Datuk
and their
structed from carrying out their duties. R. Ganesan, and his deputy, Hee Yit Foong,
supporters
“The police stopped us from going to the be arrested and given a six months jail sen-
from going
building, resulting in the arrest of the three tence.
within a
assemblymen, for reasons unknown,” he Ganesan and Hee were also “fined”
30m radius
said. RM250,000 each for their roles in the state
of the State
“The pro-Umno group was allowed to assembly sitting in May during which Ganesan
Secretariat
gather without being harassed as if they had was appointed the speaker.
building.
obtained a permit. This is a double stand- The seating arrangement in the hotel
ard.” included places for the Barisan Nasional as-
Sivakumar said notices were issued to all semblymen, which were not occupied.
PKFZ lacked common
management skills, says Azmi
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: The management of the Port
Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) was “very weak” and
lacking in common management skills, Public
Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Seri
Azmi Khalid said yesterday.
“Today, we can only draw a conclusion that the
management of the project was very weak, and
many common practices of such large projects
which should be there appeared to be absent,” he
said.
Azmi, who spoke to reporters after the PAC
questioned former Port Klang Authority general
manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang, said the project
lacked a cash flow projection to track incoming
and outgoing funds.
“Anyone who knows business or project
management will prepare a projection of income
and expenditure. One important element is a
cash flow projection to monitor the income. If you
have no cash flow projection of your incoming
and outgoing funds, it is like walking in the dark,”
he said.
“It is an essential component of all businesses.
It allows you to keep track of your commitment
to pay the banks and the loans. If you have no
projection, you do not know your financial mis-
Tiong hopes for transparent probe
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd CEO
Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing confirmed that the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
had contacted him to facilitate investigations into
the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) controversy.
Tiong, who is Barisan Nasional Backbenchers
Club chairman, said: “I was asked to help facili-
tate the investigations by MACC twice, while a
few witnesses were also called to assist.”
Welcoming the investigation by the MACC,
Tiong, who is also Bintulu member of parliament,
said he hoped the investigations would be car-
ried out in a fair and transparent manner.
He said this in an interview with the Chinese
media yesterday, the transcript of which was
faxed to Bernama.
theSun | THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3 2009
THESUN
M MANSUR/
SAIFUL HIZA
The PR assemblymen approved an emer-
gency motion condemning the arrest of the
seven earlier in the morning.
They also approved the membership for
the privilege committee, public accounts
committee, and Standing Order committee.
After the sitting ended two hours later,
Mohamad Nizar said Sivakumar will lodge a
police report “directing” the police to arrest
Ganesan and Hee.
However, he said, it is up to the police
whether to act or not.
In PUTRAJAYA, Datuk Seri Najib Razak
called on all quarters to respect the law to
ensure that public order is maintained at
all times.
Commenting on attempts by opposition
parties in Perak to “convene” a state legisla-
tive assembly sitting yesterday, the prime
minister said, “police have the power to
ensure that public order is maintained”.
takes. Even for small businesses, the banks will
ask for it.
“However, the project was completed. From
the aspect of the developers and contractors,
it was completed quickly. But from a financial
standpoint, it was very weak and because of this,
we found such apparent cost escalations, which
became a problem.”
Azmi said Phang was cooperative and ad-
mitted her responsibility as the PKFZ general
manager until May last year.
“She gave an explanation of her experiences,
and we asked her questions. She admitted that
she was responsible as the general manager,
but the issue of who is at fault and who is not is
another story,” he said.
He did not query Phang about her trips overseas
as he felt it was part of marketing the project.
Phang was also not questioned about the
allegations made by PKA chairman Datuk Lee
Hwa Beng. “If there is any truth to the allegations,
and it goes into a police report, we don’t want to
interfere in case we prejudice her,” he said.
Asked whether a conclusion could be drawn
following yesterday’s inquiry, Azmi said they still
needed to speak to former PKA chairmen Tan Sri
Dr Ting Chew Peh and Datuk Yap Pian Hon today.
He said the PAC hoped to finish its work by
next week, and complete its report by October.
PKFZ, a trans-shipment hub built on 405ha site
Port Klang, became embroiled in a controversy
after it was revealed that the development cost
had shot up from RM2.5 billion to RM 4.6 billion.
Port Klang Authority (PKA) had bought the
land from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd at RM25 per
sq ft for the project, and later appointed the
company to develop it.
The MACC started investigations into PKFZ
following reports lodged last month by PKA
chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng who alleged that
Kuala Dimensi, the turnkey contractor for the
construction of the PKFZ, was allegedly involved
in possible fraud, unsubstantiated claims and
overcharging amounting to hundreds of millions
of ringgit.