Former Malaysian Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik was charged yesterday for "cheating" the government in a billion-dollar scandal involving the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).
The PKFZ, which was supposed to transform Port Klang into a regional transhipment hub, was first estimated to cost less than $0.63 billion, but the budget is now expected to balloon to $3.9 billion if it is unable to meet its loan repayments.
Ling is charged with misleading the government in 2002 into buying a piece of land within the PKFZ for an extra $227 million.
Ling pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Sessions Court and was granted a $0.3 million bail. His hearing date has been fixed for September 3, 2010.
The PKFZ began in 1999 as a joint venture between the Port Klang Authority and Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone. When it opened in 2006, cost overruns were discovered, and Jebel Ali pulled out in 2007.
Reports list the 400ha PKFZ site as offering a range of facilities for local and foreign investors, including 512 warehouse units, 258 ha of prepared industrial sites for long-term lease, 500,000 sq ft of office space, and a 135-room business hotel and exhibition centre.
A report by the external auditors for the Port Klang Free Trade Zone estimates that the venture would be loss-making until 2029 and would only break even in 2051.
The PKFZ, which was supposed to transform Port Klang into a regional transhipment hub, was first estimated to cost less than $0.63 billion, but the budget is now expected to balloon to $3.9 billion if it is unable to meet its loan repayments.
Ling is charged with misleading the government in 2002 into buying a piece of land within the PKFZ for an extra $227 million.
Ling pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Sessions Court and was granted a $0.3 million bail. His hearing date has been fixed for September 3, 2010.
The PKFZ began in 1999 as a joint venture between the Port Klang Authority and Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone. When it opened in 2006, cost overruns were discovered, and Jebel Ali pulled out in 2007.
Reports list the 400ha PKFZ site as offering a range of facilities for local and foreign investors, including 512 warehouse units, 258 ha of prepared industrial sites for long-term lease, 500,000 sq ft of office space, and a 135-room business hotel and exhibition centre.
A report by the external auditors for the Port Klang Free Trade Zone estimates that the venture would be loss-making until 2029 and would only break even in 2051.