PUTRAJAYA: New Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng will appoint an independent accounting firm to conduct an overall audit on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.
Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat, in announcing this here on Friday, said Lee would announce the name of the accounting firm next week.
“However, I would like to stress that the audit has nothing to do with a probe on any party relating to handling the accounts in PKFZ.
“The audit is necessary for PKFZ to make a fresh start. There have been various reports criticising PKFZ and referring to it as a ‘white elephant’ and a scandal.
“This is a grave accusation when nothing conclusive has been proven yet,” he told reporters Friday after chairing the post-Cabinet meeting at his office here.
Ong also pledged his ministry’s fullest cooperation as well as that of the PKA and the PKFZ to the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament should it wish to conduct its own probe into the state of accounts.
The previous chairman, Datuk Chor Chee Heung, resigned on March 31 after being re-appointed into the Cabinet as the new Deputy Home Minister.
Lee, who is the former Subang Jaya assemblyman, is an accountant by training.
The minister had previously promised to reveal how the RM4.6bil soft loan to the PKFZ was spent after costs were said to have ballooned from RM1.845bil.
Ong also extended an invitation to members of the media to visit the PKFZ site next week in order to see for themselves the progress of the project.
“We should see what has been achieved in the one year since news broke of PKFZ. The results will show,” he pointed out.
Lee, who was also present at the press conference, said he was touched by the minister’s confidence in his ability, saying he would try his best to elucidate PKFZ’s state of accounts.
“This is a heavy responsibility,” he said, adding that he had yet to identify the accounting firm.
