KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd scandal that surfaced in 2018, after the company reported debts of RM50 billion.

In a statement, TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said no apparent progress had been made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation launched that same year, after an interview with Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.

He also said that TI-M joins The Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) and civil societies in seeking an RCI into the scandal, along with transparent disclosure to Parliament, "to avoid the makings of another 1MDB, SRC International or Sabah Watergate”.

"Our pension and retirement funds are not a source of off-book financing for risky and questionable projects,” said Muhammad.

In his statement, Muhammad referenced a recent report by C4 Centre titled "PFI: The Search for Accountability” that reiterated Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd had obtained loans amounting to RM30 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP).

The collateral for the loans were government land parcels leased to Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd by the Federal Lands Commissioner, it added.

"Pembinaan PFI then sub-leased the same plots of land back to the Federal Lands Commissioner for a sum of RM29 billion to repay the loan from EPF. TI-M is appalled by the lack of accountability and transparency over the management of national projects and the handling of this case as reported,” Muhammad said today.

"When these purported ‘private-financing’ initiatives are guaranteed and financed by government agencies, and funding is provided by banks which are mostly owned by Government Linked Investment Companies (GLICs); one must ask, are these projects only ‘private’ in name, to avoid accountability?

"If the MACC has conducted a thorough investigation into the case and has found absolutely no wrongdoing, in contradiction to all of C4’s findings (using publicly available sources) then the MACC should clear the GLC’s name with their findings.

"Furthermore, where are the Federal Land Commission and Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd’s disclosures and updates on these high value projects, more than a decade since their inception?”

PFIs are a form of public-private partnership where public projects are financed by private sector concessionaires who then get repaid over the concession period.

PFIs are supposed to be solely managed by the Public-Private Partnership Unit, an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department.