After months of accusations of cover-up and with lobbyists trying to prevent its dis-closure, the report on the Port Klang Free Zone is in public domain. Volumes have been written and commentaries from politicians and members of the public have dominated cyberspace. It would be wrong not to recognise and congratulate Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for his steadfastness in wanting to keep to his promise that he is all for transparency. Ong, wrongly, has been the subject of scorn poured by certain quarters without understanding nor accepting the fact that he merely inherited the problem from his predecessors. On assuming the hot seat, he had been consistent in wanting the cold truth to be told to the public sans the frills and legal jargon.
Having said that, Ong is now left with the task of compelling the board of the Port Klang Authority to bring to book the wrongdoers and to recover public money which has ended in the pockets of wrong people. It’s not an uphill task either. Board chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng is an accountant by training, qualification and profession. He has with him vast experience in financial procedures, especially in the private sector. He is well aware that all directors owe a fiduciary duty to their shareholders. In this instance, the shareholders are the people of Malaysia whose money had been used to fund the project. Hence, if the previous directors had not exercised such duties, it is incumbent upon the present board to act against the acts and omissions of their predecessors which has resulted in such a colossal loss.
Lee and his fellow board members must also realise that they too are governed by the same principles of fiduciary duty in that they must take appropriate action to recover all monies which rightfully belongs to PKA. While the law may take its course as the report has been handed to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, let’s not forget other elements of criminal offences under the Penal Code and other statutes which necessitate action by other law enforcement agencies. Above all these, the present directors owe it to the people to ensure that all recommendations made in the report be implemented without delay and without fear or favour.
If they do not move and yield to pressure or actions by hidden hands, they too will be judged by the same principles. In short, they too must be held responsible if they sit idle and think that a report to the MACC will solve all the ills that have afflicted the project over the past seven years.
- The Sun -