Speech (2) by Lim Kit Siang at the opening of the new RM800,000 Kuching DAP premises at Jalan Abang Abdul Rahim, Kuching on Monday, 8^th March 2010 at 10 am: 

Ong Tee Keat must go all out to bring the “sharks’ of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to justice and not just “small fries” – even if he has to pay the price of being a short-term MCA President and Transport Minister

In yesterday’s pathetic 56th MCA Annual General Meeting attended by only 25% of the eligible MCA delegates and boycotted by the majority of the MCA Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MPs and State Assembly members, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat suggested his present troubles were caused by his investigation of the nation’s biggest financial scandal – the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

For several months, I had refrained from commenting on the PKFZ scandal after putting intense pressure on Ong to “tell all” about the scandal – at one stage, posing three-questions-a-day for 36 days without pause, totaling 108 questions, to force Ong to act on the PKFZ scandal.

I wanted to give Ong a completely free hand and not to feel to be under any pressure when there were signs that some action were at last being taken to ensure proper accountability for the PKFZ scandal.

However, up to now, only four not major personalities had been charged in court for corruption and abuses of power in the PKFZ scandal before the new year, with the promise by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Othman himself that “big fishes” in the PKFZ scandal were almost ready to be brought to book and prosecuted in court.

The whole nation waited in bated breath for the arrest and prosecution of the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, as nobody really believe that the four middling persons charged last December could be responsible wholly or even for majority part of the PKFZ scandal.

But the waiting of 27 million Malaysians have turned from day-to-day, to week-to-week and now month-to-month.

Malaysians are therefore astounded when Ong attributed his political troubles and survival as MCA President to the PKFZ scandal, when the “sharks” of the PKFZ scandal are still scotfree and not accounted for.

Let me tell Ong - go all out to bring the “sharks’ of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to justice and not be content with the “small fries”, even if he has to pay the price of being a short-term MCA President and Transport Minister. If he is to leave the Cabinet and MCA leadership, do it with a bang rather than in a whimper.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor