KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) must shake answers from Finance Ministry-owned Pembinaan PFI on its near RM30 billion debt pile when it meets the firm tomorrow, a federal DAP lawmaker said.

In a statement here, Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming listed 10 questions for the parliamentary panel to pose to the firm, which had reportedly racked up liabilities of RM27.9 billion at the end of 2012.

Ong, a vocal critic on the issue since last year, requested that the PAC ask Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, one of Pembinaan PFI’s directors, the firm’s procurement methods and its ability to repay its debts, among others.

“Pembinaan PFI’s name seems to indicate that the projects undertaken were being finance via Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) with the private sector bearing some of the capital expenditure and risk of the projects.

“Were the projects being funded by Pembinaan PFI considered as Private Finance Initiatives and if so, who were the private entities involved in bearing some of the capital expenditure for these projects?” he asked.

Ong also asked how the projects being funded by the firm were awarded, whether they were via open tender through the government’s MyProcurement website or via direct negotiation.

He questioned Putrajaya’s rationale behind channeling funds for the development projects through Pembinaan PFI, instead of using allocations from the government’s annual budget.

Ong also urged the PAC to glean details from Pembinaan PFI on the identities of its management team members, noting this would help the firm be more transparent on its projects and processes.

The lawmaker also sought answers on Pembinaan PFI’s “complicated” debt repayment method, noting that instead of fulfilling its loan obligations directly to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) when it was due in August 2012, the Federal Land Commissioner was roped in as a vehicle to repay the firm’s debt.

Explaining, Ong said Pembinaan PFI had first taken up a RM20 billion loan from the EPF in August 2007 that was due to be paid in lump sum plus interest in August 2012. The loan was restructured, however, in 2012 to bi-annual payments for 15 years until 2027.

“This money would come from the Federal Land Commissioner, which had leased federal land to Pembinaan PFI and then paid rental for this land to Pembinaan PFI as part of a lease back agreement.

“Why was such a complicated method used to pay back EPF? Why wasn’t the RM20b plus interest just paid back in full in August 2012?” Ong asked.

Other questions the lawmaker raised included asking the Finance Ministry to list out the progress and cost of each project awarded to Pembinaan PFI, its delay in submitting its annual returns for 2013 and its ability to repay the RM19.5 billion Bai Muajjal Islamic loan from EPF last August.

Last week, the Serdang MP claimed that if left unchecked, the obscure firm could easily doubled up its debt and turn into 1Malaysia Development Berhad, another debt-laden firm.

According to the Auditor-General’s report in 2013, Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd had the third highest liabilities among all government-owned entities at the end of 2012. 

Its total liabilities were RM27.9 billion, behind national oil giant Petronas and sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional.