The Malaysian Insight

FORMER transport minister Liow Tiong Lai has accused the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of smearing his reputation by making statements linking him to the alleged irregularities concerning vehicle-entry permits (VEP) but not summoning him to clarify matters.

He said he has yet to receive a notice from the committee to attend its inquiry into the alleged irregularities concerning the VEP and believes the repeated media statements are an attempt to paint him in a bad light.

This despite the committee revealing earlier this year that it would be calling up Liow.

“I think they (PAC) have political motives for doing this. They keep saying they’ll call me up but they have not actually given me a chance to explain. This is like smearing me,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“This is unfair to me. If you want to question me, then please do it quickly. They have already said they will do so in the media a number of times. Is this to smear me?

“If I’m summoned to the PAC, then I will also explain myself in a press conference to prove my innocence. Right now, I don’t have the chance to defend myself and this issue is being manipulated,” Liow said.

He said the PAC’s inaction so far can only mean that investigations into the VEP issue so far had turned up nothing.

“The VEPs were awarded according to procedure, the then government did not pay TCSens Sdn Bhd anything and payment was only made after implementation, so the government and the people’s interests were not compromised,” Liow said.

Deputy PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh previously said the committee will call in Liow to testify over irregularities detected over the awarding of VEP to TCSens.

Liow had then denied any impropriety, saying the VEP was awarded to the company after due diligence was performed and the appointment was also reviewed by the Finance Ministry.

“I myself have seen the Finance Ministry’s report on the company, there were no problems.”

The Auditor-General’s Report for 2017, Series 2, revealed that the VEP system between Singapore and Malaysia worth RM149.45 million was awarded via direct negotiations.

One of the contractors involved, TCSens, was found to have no prior experience and only had RM35.54 in its accounts instead of the required RM2.3 million.

However, Liow said the report was inaccurate as TCSens had another bank account with RM3 million in it.

TCSens is linked to former MCA deputy secretary-general Wee Jeck Seng. – March 18, 2019.