Former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager O.C. Phang told the High Court that she never received any official letter stating that a RM25 psf land valuation on a piece of land in Pulau Indah was inclusive of interest.
When questioned on a letter she wrote on Nov 15, 2000, which had the various payment methods attached, she replied that it clearly showed that the price of the land was separate from the interest to be paid.
The 65-year-old testified in the trial of former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik that she also did not receive any letter informing her of this from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the Finance Ministry, the Transport Ministry, or any other party.
Cross-examined by defence counsel Wong Kian Kheong, Phang – who had been involved in the PKFZ project since 1998 – said she only knew that the price was inclusive of interest in January this year.
Wong: You said two investigating officers (one is ASP Mohd Rosni Mohd Lazim) told you that interest is included in the price?
Phang: Yes.
Wong: Was it recorded in your 112 statement (a statement given to the police under Section 112 of the Evidence Act 1950)?
Phang: I don’t remember if it was recorded.
She said a letter dated June 29, 2002, and sent by Dr Ling to former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, also stated the price was not inclusive of interest.
The letter was to inform that negotiations between the PKA and KDSB had been held on the land purchase based on conditions and terms agreed to by Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH).
JPPH deputy director-general Datuk Mani Usilappan had previously testified that a RM25 psf price consideration (for the land) could be used when read together with the 10-year repayment period with a yearly 6% interest and a 5% deposit. Nett present value of the land had been fixed at RM21 psf.
As long as any deferred payment scheme reflected the RM21 psf price when discounted back at a rate of 8.25%, it captured the essence of the JPPH valuation report
In the sale and purchase agreement, the terms agreed to included the land being purchased at RM25 psf with a 7.5% interest rate for 15 years, with a 10% deposit. Payment was to only start in the fifth year of the loan tenure.
Dr Ling has claimed trial to an amended principal charge of deceiving the Government by not exposing to the Cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5% annually in the land purchase for the PKFZ project.
He faces two optional charges of cheating the Government by not exposing to the Cabinet facts pertaining to the interest rate, and deceiving it into believing that facts on the land purchase at RM25 psf and 7.5% interest were certified and agreed to by JPPH when he knew that there was no such consent.
He is said to have committed the offences at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.
The hearing continues before Justice Ahmadi Asnawi tomorrow.
Source : The Star
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