By : CLARA CHOOI
KUALA LUMPUR : No minister
in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Cabinet had ever complained that the price of land
purchased for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project was too high, Tun Dr Ling
Liong Sik told the High Court today.
Dr Ling, who served for 17
years as transport minister until 2003, also denied that the government had
been willing to acquire land at whatever cost.
"No. If the price is
too high and it is not viable, what for?" he told lead prosecutor Datuk
Tun Majid Tun Hamzah during cross-examination today.
The former MCA president
(picture) is on trial for allegedly deceiving the Cabinet into approving the
purchase of 999.5 acres of land for the PKFZ project in 2002, which had
resulted in wrongful losses for the government.
He also faces two
alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the terms of
purchase — at RM25 psf and 7.5 per cent interest — were acknowledged and agreed
to by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) despite knowing
that there was no such agreement.
Dr Ling insisted to the
court today that the issue of land price was never under his jurisdiction,
pointing out that such matters were only for the Finance Ministry and its
agencies to determine.
During Dr Ling's tenure as
minister, Dr Mahathir was the finance minister and prime minister.
"I don't remember
discussing price (of the land), price was always — in my mind — left to the MOF
(finance ministry), the EPU (Economic Planning Unit) and the JPPH," he
said.
"In Cabinet, did any
minister ever say that the price (of the land) was too high?" Tun Majid
asked Dr Ling.
Dr Ling said,
"No."
When Tun Majid asked if he
was certain, the retired politician said, "Yes."
About a half hour later, Tun
Majid referred Dr Ling to Cabinet minutes dated October 2, 2002, where it was
stated that Cabinet had “taken note” that the price of the land in question was
“very high”.
He cast doubt over Dr Ling’s
testimony earlier, pointing out that although the latter claimed that no Cabinet
minister had ever complained about the price of the land, it had still made
note of the fact at its meeting.
“Do you remember you told us
just now that the land price was never an issue?” the lawyer asked.
Dr Ling did not answer the
question but pointed out to the court that during all the meetings he attended
at the time, his focus was merely on “taking the land”.
“As far as the Transport
Ministry is concerned, we are not concerned about the price. There are other
agencies looking after valuation and finance... nothing to do with us so my
focus was not there,” he said.
Dr Ling repeated that at the
time, no one in Cabinet had ever mentioned that the price of the land to be
purchased was considered too high.
Referring to the Cabinet
minutes, the soft-spoken former minister pointed out that the document was not
like Parliament’s Hansard.
“So how true this is, how
not true this is — I cannot be sure,” he said.
He repeated that it was the
Finance Ministry, JPPH and EPU’s duty to determine if the price of the land was
“too high” and if the purchase would be viable for PKFZ.
“So I do not know who said
this — too high,” he said before he was cut off by Tun Majid, who said that he
would bring up the matter again at a later time.
“Anytime,” Dr Ling retorted.
Dr Ling faces a possible
jail term of up to seven years, or a fine, or both, if convicted on the first
charge under section 418 of the Penal Code.
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