KUALA LUMPUR: The ongoing swoop on individuals involved in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal has been lauded as the right, "first step" move to regain public trust in graft-combating.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low told The Malay Mail this morning that coming a week after the announcement of the appointment of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed as its new Chief Commissioner from Jan 1, the swoop will "definitely uplift the credibility of the government in tackling the issue of corruption."

"It is a good start and the government seems serious. This is very encouraging. The Attorney-General's assurance that they are acting independently in this matter is comforting," he said.

Low, however, cautioned that the case would be monitored closely by the public. "The case is of national interest because of the large sum of money involved. The public will judge the effectiveness of the government handling the PKFZ case and other such cases of abuse of power and corruption," he said.

Imran Yusof, the son of blogger, the late Capt. Muhammad Yusof Ahmad, who ran the blog 'The Ancient Mariner', said it was a step in the right direction to fight graft.

"Of course it is a good thing that the top leadership of MACC is being replaced and the people allegedly responsible for the scandal are being charged," he said.

Imran said the case would come under close scrutiny from the public. "The matter had already been dragged on for far too long and I feel that those responsible should have been charged much earlier."

He said the commitment of the prosecution in the PKFZ case has to be proven. "I hope that everything would come out in the open now that the case is in court.

"There should be no issues discussed in private, like evidence shown in chambers, due to the use of laws like the OSA (Official Secrets Act)."

Followers of "The Ancient Mariner", a blog by former pilot superintendent of Klang Port Authority Captain Yusof Ahmad, will surely remember that the late captain was one of the first to blog on the RM4.6 billion scandal in July 2007.

The former pioneer general of West Port incessantly fought to expose the issue and alert the public through his postings before it was highlighted in mainstream newspapers — and relentlessly demanded for action to be taken against those responsible.

Two years later, since his first blog post on PKFZ, his wish came true when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police made its first swoop on three people connected with the PKFZ debacle.
Unfortunately, the late mariner passed away on July 19 this year; a little too early to see what he had long championed has come to fruition.

THE following are the main charges preferred against former Port Klang Authority general manager Datuk Paduka O.C. Phang (right) and two others in the Sessions Court yesterday:

AGAINST PHANG;

CHARGE 1

That between Oct 1, 2004 and Sept 5, 2005 in your capacity as the general manager of the Port Klang Authority committed criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving funds totalling RM98,700,000 in disbursement account no.  21423100033928 in RHB Bank Berhad, Plaza OSK, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, which is an offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

CHARGE 2

That between Sept 30, 2005 and May 9, 2006 in your capacity as the general manager of the Port Klang Authority committed criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving funds totalling RM21,600,000 in disbursement account no. 21423100033928 in RHB Bank Berhad, Plaza OSK, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, which is an offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

CHARGE 3

That between June 1 2005 and Jan 13 2006 in your capacity as the general manager of the Port Klang Authority committed criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving funds totalling RM134,550,000 in disbursement account no. 21423100033928 in RHB Bank Berhad, Plaza OSK, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, which is an offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

AGAINST STEPHEN ABOK (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF KUALA DIMENSI SDN BHD) AND ARCHITECT BERNARD TAN SENG SWEE (OF BTA ARCHITECT, THE PROJECT CONSULTANT);

CHARGE 1

That both accused deceived the Port Klang Authority into believing that the 33Kv system to Precint 2 and Precint 8 of the Port Klang Free Zone Development in Pulau Indah, Klang, Selangor, had been executed as stated in Notice of Payment No.14 dated July 31, 2007 when in fact the work required was not carried out and led to the Port Klang Authority making a payment of RM4,080,000 to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd on Aug 6 the same year, which is an offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 34 of the same code.

CHARGE 2

That both accused deceived the Port Klang Authority into believing that the 33Kv system to Precint 2 and Precint 8 of the Port Klang Free Zone Development in Pulau Indah, Klang, Selangor, had been executed as stated in Notice of Payment No.16 dated Sept 28, 2007 when in fact the work required was not carried out and led to the Port Klang Authority making a payment of RM1,337,000 to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd on Oct 8 the same year, which is  an offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 34 of the same code.