I refer to the Malaysiakini report Whistleblower policy for all under Transport Ministry .

The Ministry of Transport has launched a whistle-blowing policy for Lembaga Pelabuhan Kelang (LPK) hoping that the public comes forward to provide information in order to arrest possible malpractices, misuse of power or corruption within its jurisdiction. It sounds good. But has the ministry regained the public’s trust yet?

We suggest the minister first publicly displays sincerity and transparency in LPK actions before coming out with such policies. This is so because the public is still disillusioned with the excesses committed by LPK for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). What is the guarantee that the ministry or LPK will now really take action in the interests of the people?

A long time ago, when people were crying foul over the PKFZ scandal, not only did the government refuse to listen to public cries, it even went to the extent of ignoring all the police reports made to the expose the foul deeds. It must have known the truth but it thought it would be better to sweep them under the carpet thinking the problem will go away.

Fuelled by impunity and greed, the issues grew so huge, it finally blew up. So what is the guarantee that the whistleblowers will not be in trouble now? What is the guarantee that the government will take action? Is the LPK really serving the people?

Recently, it was reported in the media that over 20 private jetties under LPK’s jurisdiction were doing illegal activities by handling cargoes that otherwise should go to the legitimate ports.

We have two huge capacity ports in Port Klang and yet some contractors who earlier handled the business at these ports themselves built private jetties and diverted huge volumes of cargoes to these private jetties.

What is the point of the government spending billions of valuable public money to build modern ports if the caretaker of the trust, the Lembaga Pelabuhan Kelang itself, allows jetties to steal cargoes from the major ports and betray the public on two fronts. It is like ‘harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi’.

First, it has been reported in the media that these private jetties operate on small budgets so they quote very cheap rates to receive or export cargoes. But they are also known to under-declare the value of the cargoes and with compromised customs scrutiny, the government could be losing millions of possible revenue every day for the last many years.

That’s against national interest. LPK has not only wasted billions of public money over PKFZ; it has probably wasted much more in areas that have yet to be exposed. Then, a visit to the two ports will show that the wharves are empty. There are no ships.

That’s because a lot of the cargoes have gone to the private jetties including one huge ‘port’ facility in Selangor that is out of LPK’s jurisdiction but handles more cargo than any of the national ports.

More cargoes are allowed to pass through these private jetties than the national ports themselves. But the national ports belong to the people. The livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly related to the ports’ business will suffer.

When the issue became public last year, the minister ordered and the LPK quickly took action to stop these private jetties from doing this illegal business of stealing cargoes that should otherwise go to the main national ports.

When the news and public zeal on the public jetties’ illegal activities slowly subsided, LPK slowly allowed them to operate again as usual, an act the port fraternity says is sabotaging the national port’s business.

It cannot be a coincidence; the general public is asking if the owners of most of the active private jetties, the caretaker of public trust, the LPK and the transport minister himself come from the same political party?

There is also a talk that when the lease of Southport expires in 2013, LPK might bring some developers to convert the Southport area into a massive seaview condo living resort probably allowing the same party members to mint more money at the people’s expense.

These people have already done enough damage with the PKFZ. Little is known about how carelessly LPK has been managed or run by these people. Contractors that do not operate businesses have been given licenses and those that really operate businesses, licensing is made very difficult.

There is even a contractor that owes many millions in outstanding EPF, Socso and income tax payments (meaning that he has been making money) and not paying up. With total impunity, LPK continues to renew his license.

So, who actually is LPK working for? Whose trust is actually LPK holding fort for? Why does the federal government allow these people who run LPK to do anything they like with total impunity even against national interests?

So the question remains. Is the minister of transport really honest and sincere about whistle- blowing when it’s blatant that the LPK itself is sabotaging national interest by allowing private jetties to flourish and allow the national ports to suffer?