Description
The PwC audit report into the PKFZ scandal has been described in the media as "a damning disclosure of mismanagement, clandestine deals, conflicts of interest and a total disregard for transparency and accountability" for a project which was supposed to cost RM1.088 billion in 2002. It is now reported that the final cost of the PKFZ scandal could be as high as RM12.5 billion.
How much is RM12.5 billion? It can be used:
To build four Penang bridges; 25 universities at RM500 million each; 125 hospitals at RM100 million each; 1,250 schools at RM10 million each; 312,500 low-cost houses at RM40,000 each;
To provide amnesty from collecting assessment for 13 years for Selangor
state or 45 years for Penang state; To give everyone of the 27 million Malaysians regardless of age a payout
of RM338!
In fact it is like striking a RM1 Million price lottery each and every month non stop for the next 1,041 years!
RM12.5 billion is also equivalent to five RM2.5 billion BMF scandals, "a heinous crime without criminals" as pronounced by the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the 1980s. Will the PKFZ scandal become another "heinous crime without criminals" under the current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak?