Fact check on cabotage debate: Wee misled us, says ex-deputy minister

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming has listed five areas where transport minister Wee Ka Siong misled the public during the cabotage policy debate with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Firstly, Ong said many times during the debate, Wee wanted to create the impression that global submarine cable company and Japanese telecom giant NTT Ltd was the only owner of the proposed Apricot undersea submarine cable project that was bypassing Malaysia.

The former deputy international trade and industry minister said this was “grossly misleading” as there were a number of other shareholders in the project, including Google, Facebook, PLDT (Philippines largest telecommunications company), and Chunghwa Telecom (a Taiwanese telco).

“Did Wee conveniently leave out the participation of other players in the Apricot project because two of the shareholders, Facebook and Google, were part of a group of companies (local and international) which sent two letters to former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and one letter to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob asking for Wee’s cabotage policy to be set aside?” Ong asked in a statement.

He noted that these companies also wanted the return of former transport minister Loke Siew Fook’s cabotage exemption policy on undersea submarine cable repairs.

- More -