Liow acting in contempt of PAC’s findings on KLIA2, DAP MP says

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should be “held in contempt” of the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) findings on the second Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA2), DAP’s Tony Pua said, accusing the transport minister of protecting the culprits behind the project’s RM4 billion price tag.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said Liow has “stubbornly refused” to accept the parliamentary committee’s recommendation for an in-depth audit on the KLIA2 project by the Auditor-General.

“This is despite the fact that the transport minister himself expressed support for the above recommendation in January this year.

“It appears that the ‘support’ expressed is nothing more than another empty promise to deflect criticisms by the public and the media for transparency and accountability,” said Pua, who is also Petaling Jaya-Utara MP and a member of the PAC.

In a written parliamentary reply to DAP’s Raub MP Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, Liow said there were no cost overruns in the construction of the airport, claiming that the cost increase was due to “an increase in scope due to a new design concept of KLIA2”.

The MCA president added that stakeholders like aviation companies and the government had “detailed needs”, which could have also contributed to the increase in cost in the construction of the airport that opened in May 2 last year.

Pua today stressed that the PAC had investigated and confirmed questionable decisions made by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) that led to the cost of the budget terminal ballooning to RM4 billion from its initial budget of RM1.7 billion when it was first announced in July 2007.

He added that MAHB itself had admitted to cost overruns amounting to RM3.9 billion in November 2011, before the then deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri told Parliament in October the following year that the cost went up to RM4 billion.

“The minister’s reply yesterday runs contrary to all the facts staring at Malaysians in the face, and all the previous announcements by both the Ministry of Transport and the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd,” Pua said.

Pua said Liow should at the very least emulate his predecessor and former MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, who ordered an independent audit by a private firm on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“The current MCA president, however, lacks any authority, courage and backbone to do the right thing and ensure that those accountable for the RM4 billion KLIA2 fiasco are punished to ensure that such transgressions are never again repeated in all government and government-related projects,” he said.