Pua reveals why MRT is recipe to enrich cronies
(Harakah Daily) – Above-market consultation fees coupled with a Project Delivery Partner dictating who gets what, have lent credence to speculation that the country’s biggest infrastructure project, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), is just another way to enrich Barisan Nasional’s cronies.
Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua (right) said by awarding contracts first and deciding fees later, the project made a mockery of the claim of reforms through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).
“The opaque and obtuse management of the RM53 billion MRT project has proven beyond doubt that Najib’s administration is ‘all talk, and no action’,” said Pua, taking prime minister Najib Razak to task for stating that PDP would bear all cost-overruns on the MRT project.
Earlier, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim called for an independent panel to review the RM55 billion project, citing questions surrounding the appointment of Gamuda-MMC as its PDP. Anwar said Gamuda-MMC has interests in finalising the project’s specification to maximise profits, which are paid through tax payers’ money.
Independent check engineer
Pua reminded that among the GTP’s objective was to disclose details of government procurement contracts and engage the public to increase accountability and reduce corruption.
“It is an oxymoron for Najib to argue that the PDP will bear all cost-overruns when its own project contract value has yet to be finalised, and may be increasing as we speak, as the cost of the MRT project has already ballooned from a budgeted RM36 billion to now, an estimated RM53 billion,” he warned.
Pua revealed that HSS Integrated, the consortium appointed as the MRT’s Independent Check Engineer, is being paid 2% of the total project cost, way above the market rate which is about 0.8%.
“Assuming a RM50 billion project cost, the HSSI consortium will pocket RM1 billion in fees, RM600 million more than the estimated market rate of RM400 million,” he said, and reminded the total cost of the project had yet to be finalised.
