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Urgent fax to Abdullah that MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks scandal does not just concern  PWD or Works Ministry, but is the first major test for his nine-month premiership about accountability, transparency and good governance   Media Statement (2) by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): I have sent an urgent fax to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stressing that the Middle Ring Road Two (MRR2) Kepong flyover cracks scandal does not just concern the Public Works Department or the Works Ministry but has become the first major test for his nine-month premiership about its commitment to accountability, transparency and good governance.  In my fax, I asked Abdullah to allow the Cabinet to conduct a serious reconsideration of the issue, as it is scandalous that the MRR2 Kepong flyover should develop cracks and have to be closed down within two years of completion when it should be able to meet international standards and last for 50 years without developing any structural problems; and doubly scandalous, that the Malaysian public have not been told the full facts surrounding the MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks scandal.   The Cabinet must address two important issues tomorrow: Firstly, send out a clear and unmistakable message that while it gives full support and power to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate into the corruption aspect of the RM238 million project, it would not countenance any cover-up or  avoidance of the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance by continued denial of all available information to the public about the MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks scandal – including the immediate publication of the two consultant reports, one by the Australian consultant engaged by the contractors and the other by the  German consultant engaged by the PWD. Secondly, it would not countenance any delay in ending the nightmarish traffic gridlock faced by tens of thousands of people in the affected area by ensuring that the MRR2 Kepong flyover could be safely used in the shortest possible time. Malaysians are outraged by the charade in the stop of  “repair work” of the MRR2 Kepong flyover to allow the ACA to “take photographs” of the cracks, when firstly, such photography should not take one, two or at most three days; and secondly, there is nothing much for the ACA to photograph as most of the cracks had already been patched up superficially  – which are mere cosmetic efforts to create the public illusion that something is being done  when this is not the case as the structural defects  causing the cracks are not being rectified. In addressing the MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks scandal for the second time in two weeks tomorrow, the Cabinet is duty-bound to end the information fog faced by the public on the issue.  The Cabinet should issue a Cabinet statement answering the many questions about the scandal, in particular the following: Whether it is true that cracks on the MRR2 Kepong flyover had been discovered  much earlier during the “Defects Liability Period”  of the project well before May this year, when heavy traffic was banned; When did the PWD first discover cracks on the MRR2 flyover.  What actions have the PWD taken to get the contractor, Bumi Hiway to rectify the defects?  When was the Certificate of Practical Completion (CPC) for the MRR2 Kepong flyover  issued by the PWD and the date the project was handed over from the contractor to the PWD? Whether there is  a top PWD recommendation to demolish and  reconstruct  the defective cross-heads as the only effective way to rectify the structural defects of the flyover and if so, why has it not been given serious consideration. As PWD had commissioned the German consultant to submit a report on the MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks, why has the Cabinet supported the Works Minister,  Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in refusing to accept its recommendations by questioning its authority and independence because of a differing report from the contractor’s Australian consultant, resulting in  the extraordinary decision  to appoint a second government consultant? As Samy Vellu has said that “the authorities had yet to determine the cause” of the MRR2 Kepong flyover cracks, although maintaining that it was not a design failure, what is the basis for the RM20 million repair proposal? (17/8/2004) * Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman