PUTRAJAYA – Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has brushed aside questions relating to the RM2.2 billion port dredging contract with a subsidiary of financially-troubled Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd.
Asked to comment on The Vibes’ revelation today, Wee – who is MCA president – declined to comment on whether the ministry will finalise the deal with Integrated Marine Works Sdn Bhd.
He also did not confirm or deny whether the agreement would be done this week, as mentioned in the article titled, Will the Transport Ministry ink RM2.2 bil dredging deal with ‘troubled’ firm?.
“You can keep on writing,” Wee told a reporter from The Vibes before he entered his office in the Transport Ministry headquarters here this afternoon.
The Vibes had approached him on the matter after he held a press conference on initiatives taken by Light Rail Transit (LRT) operators Prasarana Berhad, following a spate of service disruptions, and the unprecedented crash along the Kelana Jaya line in May last year.
A source familiar with the matter had said the controversial port dredging contract with IMW, estimated to be at around RM2.2 billion, is expected to be inked this week.
The new concession, according to the source, is for 15 years, with the agreement covering dredging and reclamation works at almost all of the nation’s major ports, among others.
In early March, the ministry confirmed that IMW had been appointed as a contractor for a period of another 15 years beginning July 7, 2021.
However, it is understood that the appointment was an initial memorandum of understanding between the ministry and IMW, while the deal to be inked this Friday would reaffirm the agreement as a binding contract.
In March, Wee acknowledged Inai Kiara's “financial problems” during a Dewan Rakyat session, but he noted IMW’s achievements during its previous concession, where it had completed 247 projects worth RM2.28 billion.
Inai Kiara’s chief executive Quzaim Mohamad Guljar Mohamad confirmed that the company was put under receivership by Maybank in late 2016, but said the status was lifted in late 2017 upon servicing overdue payments for loans to build six dredges.
Yet despite Wee and Quazaim’s explanations, Inai Kiara has had to deal with reputational issues, including graft charges involving the bribery of a Sarawak Public Works quantity survey assistant director.
On August 1, 2019, Inai Kiara was fined RM30,000 by the Shah Alam magistrate's court for failing to make Social Security Organisation contributions.
Former transport minister Anthony Loke had also raised Inai Kiara’s bankruptcy status following a legal suit by the government for evading Inland Revenue Board taxes in 2014. – The Vibes, May 25, 2022
