Who benefits directly from PORR?

We all know that Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor and mastermind of Malaysia-Today blog is a staunch supporter of Anwar Ibrahim and PKR, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have good articles to be read. So long as we know how to minus the usual ‘PKR’ percentage and reduce the ‘salt, pepper and chilli flakes’, Raja’s articles can provide both informative and amusing perusing.

He has hit the jackpot again with his PORR revelation. For new-comers PORR stands for Penang Outer Ring Road and the bane of Penangites.

If we recall, late last year, Humpty Dumpty announced that the Cabinet has approved the RM2 billion construction of PORR. The non-tendered project went to lucky Peninsular Metro-Works Sdn Bhd.

Penangites have been pissed off with the PORR proposal which infringes on their property values, apart from the lack of transparency in examining alternative traffic solutions. The word from 'above' was that PORR shalt be built - note my use of the word 'shalt' as reflective of it being akin to a biblical command. Then came the non-tendered contract given to a then unknown company with no track record of building roads of this magnitude. But wait there’s more.

Peninsular Metro-Works Sdn Bhd, would be given not just the profitable toll collection for 30-years, but also properties belonging to Penangites amounting to 31 hectares of prime Penang State land (why?). It would also gained 202 hectares of reclaimed land off Gurney Drive. The value of the total package? It’s approximately RM5 billion, not just the RM2 billion we’ve been led to believe.

But here’s Raja’s revelation. I quote from his article:

“And who are the ultimate owners or beneficiaries of PORR? Why, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of course. But his hand is hidden from public view and not many know he is the ultimate beneficiary to this RM5 billion concession -- that is not until Malaysia Today revealed his role in this whole thing.”

“Let us look at the very complicated shareholding structure of the companies involved in PORR which have been hidden under four layers of holdings and cross-holdings. Ultimately, Abdullah Badawi, though well-hidden from public view, is very much in the thick of things. If Anwar Ibrahim can be sent to jail for six years for merely having a conversation with a police officer, how many years do you think Abdullah should spend in jail?”

“Oh, by the way, there is no corruption involved here. What they are doing is merely meeting the aspirations of the New Economic Policy. Yeah, sure, and pigs can fly as well.”

“Yayasan Bumiputra Pulau Pinang Berhad (1) owns 100% of Kumpulan Pinang Holdings Sdn Bhd (2)”

“Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Prime Minister) and Ibrahim Saad (ex-Penang Deputy Chief Minister) are Directors of Yayasan Bumiputra Pulau Pinang Berhad.”

Chapter and verse of the sordid conflict-of-interest connections - it's all published by Raja in his article.

Early this year I blogged that Penangites, who have been fairly tolerant of Chief Minister Koh TK, were (and still are) pissed off with him for not daring to say anything about the dodgy contract for PORR's construction. Because Koh remained very very very still and silent on the dodginess of the PORR project, a group of concerned Penangites decided to raise perceptions of the questionable contract and contractor with the Prime Minister.

Now, in retrospect, I understand better why the PM had recently said it was OK to award non-tendered contracts as in the case of the new carriageway from the causeway to the CIQ building complex in JB. I am also clearer as to why he dare not reprimand Cyclops - "Let him who is without ........" John 8:7. Most sadly, I consider the group of concerned Penangites' approach to him as a F-cube ha-ha-ha tragedy.

F-cube stands for not funny but utterly frustrated - you work out the 3rd ‘F’.

OK, I want to depart from these and turn to the MCA and pose to them a 2-word query: “Bao Gong?”

And I want to say to them: "Don’t you f*king insult one of the greatest judges in history! The MCA can go and eat sh*t!"

Related:
(1) Koh Tsu Koon should go (2)
(2) Koh TK willing captive of UMNO?
(3) The real Abdullah Ahmad Badawi