The prosecution team intends to impeach Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir over his PKFZ purchase statement. – File picture
Deputy public prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah told the court that he planned to impeach the 74-year-old “first thing in the morning”. But he did not offer a reason.
“The first thing I’ll do tomorrow is impeach the witness,” Tun Majid said before judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi ended the hearing today at 5pm.
Called as a defence witness, Abdul Kadir told the court today that the Cabinet meeting minutes shown to him today showed that the PKFZ land price of RM25 psf did not include calculation of interest rate.
“I cannot remember clearly, but they mention the interest rate and other terms, so it should mean it is over and above the price of land.
“And here, the price of land is determined at RM25 psf, so the other terms listed are in addition to this,” Abdul Kadir said in court, referring to a memorandum from the Ministry of Finance dated October 23, 2002.
When asked by Dr Ling’s lawyer, Wong Kian Kheong, to testify on his client’s character, Abdul Kadir had nothing but praise.
“As far as I know, he is a very humble man with integrity in his work. He was a leader for the Chinese community, but what made me close to him was that his actions were that of a true Malaysian,” the former tourism minister said.
During cross-examination, Tun Majid asked Abdul Kadir if he agreed that the interest rate of 7.5 per cent stated in a note to the Cabinet from the Ministry of Transport dated October 29, 2000, was contradictory to the rate stated by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) in a letter dated September 29 2000.
“That is just bad drafting. The figures listed in these two documents are contradictory, so I can assume it is just bad drafting,” Abdul Kadir said, referring to the two documents.
Dr Ling, who served as transport minister for 17 years from January 1986 to May 2003, is charged with deceiving the Cabinet into approving the purchase of 999.5 acres of land for the PKFZ project, which had resulted in wrongful losses for the government.
The project, initially estimated at RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Dr Ling in 1997, more than quadrupled in cost to RM4.6 billion by 2007.
A position review by top accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed in 2009 that the total cost including interests from debt repayments could reach RM12.5 billion.
Since December 2009, six individuals have been charged in court including ex-MCA president Dr Ling, and his successor as transport minister, former MCA deputy chief Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy.
Both are accused of lying to the Cabinet.
Dr Ling also faces two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the terms of the purchase — at RM25 psf plus 7.5 per cent interest — were acknowledged and agreed to by the JPPH despite knowing that there was no such agreement.
He 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.
The alternative charges carry a lighter sentence of five years’ jail, or a fine, or both. The trial continues tomorrow at 9am.
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