Published August 25, 2009

M'sian minister files RM500m defamation suit

Ong Tee Keat sues businessman over claim of giving him RM10m for his party

By S JAYASANKARAN
IN KUALA LUMPUR
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MALAYSIA'S Minister of Transport Ong Tee Keat yesterday filed a staggering RM500 million (S$205 million) lawsuit against businessman-politician Tiong King Sing over the latter's claim that he had given Mr Ong RM10 million for his political party.

Mr Tiong: His firm, the developer of Port Klang Free Zone, is under probe by Mr Ong's ministry

Mr Ong is the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the second largest component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Mr Tiong has other troubles. His company Kuala Dimensi was the main developer of the scandal- wracked Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) development and is the subject of probes by various agencies including Mr Ong's ministry and the police.

The PKFZ was originally slated to have cost the Port Klang Authority, its owner and operator, RM2.5 billion but the final cost could be closer to RM10 billion. Mr Ong, who took over the transport portfolio last March, pushed for investigations but the backlash has seen all sorts of allegations flying from both parties.

Mr Tiong not only alleged the RM10 million payout but said that Mr Ong was not averse to accepting free rides on his private jets. That's hurt the transport minister who's tried hard to portray himself as a clean and transparent leader who, more than any other Barisan leader, pushed for a full accounting of the PKFZ fiasco.

The lawsuit is the latest incident in the ongoing fallout from the investigations into the PKFZ matter and could backlash against the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak as almost all the protagonists are from the ruling coalition. Mr Tiong is a Barisan lawmaker from Sarawak and his deputy at Kuala Dimensi Faizal Abdullah is a youth chief from Mr Najib's dominant United Malays National Organisation.

Indeed, there is some speculation that Umno leaders would be happy to see the back of Mr Ong. On Sunday, former MCA leader- turned-oppositionist Chua Jiu Meng alleged at a gathering that there was an ongoing effort by Umno to oust Mr Ong as transport minister.

Mr Ong seems to think so. Under increasing pressure, he was reported to have said that he was in danger of losing his transport minister job ever since he pushed for the PKFZ investigation.

Mr Tiong's RM10 million allegation came after a special transport ministry-appointed task force probing PKFZ said that Kuala Dimensi could have made at least RM500 million in questionable claims. Since then, Port Klang Authority chairman Lee Hwa Beng has lodged a police report.

Mr Ong maintains that Mr Tiong is trying to divert attention from the special task force's findings. The opposition agrees. The Democratic Action Party's Lim Kit Siang said that he would support Mr Ong in resisting any attempt by Kuala Dimensi to 'block' the investigation. For his part, Mr Tiong has generally been unmoved by any of Mr Ong's statements.