He told theSun the ministry had no qualms about the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission accepting the PAC's recommendations. "If PAC feels MACC should investigate, we have no problems with that," he said. Kong said that as far as he was concerned, the MACC is welcome to probe any previous or current project undertaken by the ministry. "If the MACC wants to investigate, (by all means) ... we won’t be selective ... neither will we protect anyone." theSun reported yesterday that PAC had formally made a request to the anti-graft body in a letter last week, and had included a copy of PAS MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad’s debate speech on the 10th Malaysia Plan delivered during the March parliamentary meeting. Dzulkefly was unhappy with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad’s agreement with ZhuZhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd of China to buy by direct negotiation, 38 units of six-car Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains at a cost of RM48 million each, which may be RM500 million more for the whole deal. The company had earlier won a tender to supply eight three-car EMU units at a cost of RM13.725 million each. The tender for the three-car units in 2008 was, however, cancelled following new demands and needs highlighted by the National Key Results Area (NKRA) for urban public transportation. The NKRA had highlighted the need for a rapid increase in passenger capacity. Asked about specifications yesterday, Kong said he was unsure of the technical details. “These things were done much earlier and the deal even before I came into the ministry, though there is some final paperwork to be done,” he said. Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat however in his blog (http://ongteekeat.net/) postings today, said the differences are not as simple as the CCTV and slide presentation panel as Dzulkefly claimed. He however did not divulge further details on specifications. “In my earlier blog posting (July 1), I did touch upon the difference in specifications between the 38 sets in question and the eight sets of three-rail car EMUs tendered earlier but later cancelled and unawarded. “This was done solely based on my knowledge of the difference in specifications when I served as minister, though the direct negotiation and the subsequent award of contract was under the jurisdiction of the MOF (Finance Ministry),” Ong wrote. In his July 1 posting, Ong wrote: “Any price comparison must always be based on the technical specifications, or we run the risk of comparing apples with oranges.” Yesterday, the Pandan MP said Dzukefly should have a better grasp of the detail specifications with a real understanding of the financial implications linked to the urgency of the purchase. He stressed that he had “no intention of playing spokesman” for the Transport Ministry or other agency, but was merely guided by his conscience “to voice my concern over the matter”. “To me, any well-intentioned move to protect the public interest would only be meaningful if we can get the facts right,” Ong added. When the news broke that Najib has struck a deal with Singapore’s counterpart Lee Hsien Loong regarding the KTM land in Singapore, I am surprised to see some commentators and readers sounding positive with it. Some readers on Malaysiakini were even surprisingly critical of Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s suspicion of the deal. Not much detail has been disclosed regarding the deal, so judging the merits of the deal is certainly premature. However, we should note that any deal coming from a prime minister of Malaysia with no track record of integrity is always alarming, especially when it seems to be rushed and little detail is disclosed. You can’t fault anyone to think of another “submarine” or “Altantuya”. And let’s wait for further details to be disclosed, if it will ever come. I bet many who are positive with the deal have not personally visited the KTM site. They would fail to appreciate the full opportunity (read: $$$) that Malaysia could be missing out. I have extracted a map from Google Maps and indicated landmarks of significance in the larger area:  Click for larger view The KTM land is located in Tanjong Pagar (lower left corner in the map), right at the end of a major street called Shenton Way. The area consisting of Shenton Way and Robinson Road is the heart of Singapore’s financial industry, where important institutions and landmarks, like Monetary Authority of Singapore (Singapore’s Bank Negara), The Treasury, DBS Bank, CPF (Singapore’s EPF), SIA Tower, Capital Tower, International Plaza and Singapore Exchange, are located. At the adjacent area called the Marina Bay, the ‘new CBD (central business district)’ is currently under heavy development. That’s where the most expensive property can be found. And incidentally that’s also where the newly open ’sin city’ of Singapore – Marina Sans Integrated Resort a.k.a. the casino – is located. The expressway at the bottom of the map snaking across is East Coast Parkway (ECP). Lands north of ECP are all prime (huge $$$), and south of it are the parks, sea and Keppel port. You can see that the remaining space with potential for further development is none other than the KTM land. To appreciate the vicinity of the KTM land, look at the photo below:  Turn right at the end of Shenton Way, that is KTM Terminal Considering the heavy development going on in the vicinity and the relatively large area size, the KTM land is a gold mine. By accident to the Malaysian government, of course, for nobody decades ago would imagine a train terminal sitting on a gold mine. It is under this context that all people of Malaysia should scrutinise the deal, whether or not the Najib administration has done for the maximum benefit of the country, whether or not there are any under-table deals undisclosed, for the benefits of his cronies. Only through disclosure of full details, especially the financial considerations, will the deal have a chance to be acceptable to all. readmore | ||||
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