PKFZ: Wee's nightmare arises again

MCA Youth chief fails to extend gag order against critic

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — The High Court here has rejected MCA Youth Chief Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong’s application to extend a temporary gag order on Tan Sri Robert Phang, who had linked the deputy education minister to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“Today the judge has dismissed the interim injunction pending the hearing for application for injunction on an inter-parte basis on March 10,” Phang’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo told reporters.

The lawyer declined to provide further details, as the matter was discussed in chambers but noted that the case was “argued in full”.

It is understood that the original injunction was made back on Jan 21 to stop Phang for having a press conference the next day about Wee’s alleged involvement with contractors linked to the PKFZ. Phang, who sits on a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory panel, had his scheduled press conference abruptly cut short when lawyers representing Wee barged into the room to serve a court injunction on him.

The purpose of the press conference was, according to Phang, to “urge” Wee to come forward and assist with the on-going PKFZ investigations.

But he was stopped by the injunction, which barred Phang “having a press conference from the date of Jan 22 and after with the similar agenda of calling or suggesting that the plaintiff (Wee) was a ‘bully’, ‘liar’ or ‘coward’.”

The words used were in reference to a media invitation sent out a day earlier for the press conference.

The injunction was effective for 21 days. Besides Phang, the MCA-owned English-language daily, The Star, was also served with the same injunction.

Wee’s lawyers today sought to apply for a temporary extension (ad interim) of the injunction until March 10, where presiding judge Dr. Prasad Sandosham Abraham will hear on an inter-parte basis on whether to grant a full injunction pending the completion of the actual trial.

Wee had also filed a defamation suit against Phang and The Star but no dates have yet been set for the hearing.

With the court’s rejection today, the outspoken Phang can speak about Wee’s alleged links to the PKFZ until the March 10 when the court decides on the inter-parte injunction.

“It is my statutory duty to invite members of the public to assist the MACC into investigations,” Phang told reporters today after the matter was adjourned.

An MACC report had been lodged against Wee some time back by Seremban MP John Fernandez who claimed that MCA youth chief had a conflict of interest doing work for the PKFZ while being the deputy education minister.

Fernandez had claimed that Wee should be investigated for any improprieties in his ministerial conduct and also the status of his shareholdings in consultancy firm Hijau Sekitar Sdn Bhd, claiming that the MCA leader remained a susbtantial shareholder despite his denials.

Wee’s consultancy, together with four other firms, had been commissioned by Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd to do a study on the need for port development in Port Klang. Wijaya Baru is the parent company of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, which was in charge of the controversial billion-ringgit PKFZ project.

Kuala Dimensi is headed by Tiong King Sing, who is also the Bintulu MP. Wee had declared last Dec 24 that while Hijau Sekitar provided consultancy work on Port Klang it did not do any work on the PKFZ project.