The Petaling Jaya Utara MP called out Liow over his admission yesterday that the ECRL project would indeed cost RM55 billion or RM91.7 million per kilometer.
“This admission came after slamming me last week in The Star that I was making assumptions on the cost of the ECRL when it was still not finalised yet.
“Liow had questioned how I had got the figure, saying that the government had to still go into negotiation on every kilometre,” Pua said in a statement released late last night.
The DAP National Publicity Secretary was commenting on Liow’s comment in Parliament yesterday, which in turn was a response to Pakatan Harapan MPs revealing the existence of an extensive feasibility study by HSS Engineers Bhd which had estimated that the cost of the 545km project to be only RM29 billion or RM53.2 million per kilometer.
Yesterday, Pua had challenged Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), to make public the feasibility study conducted by HSS Engineering Group, as commissioned by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC).
Pakatan Harapan lawmakers revealed earlier this week that the HSS feasibility study, which cost the Government RM8.7 million, was carried out over a six-year period, from December 2009 to December 2015.
Pua criticised Liow for trying to defend the staggering increase in cost by arguing that:
– The project has been extended from 545km to 600km to include the Gombak-Port Klang link.
– The HSS feasibility study is based on RM3.20 to the US Dollar in 2009-2010.
– There is a new alignment resulting in an increase in tunnel length from 30km to 50km, which also results in additional viaducts.
Pua said the response from Liow seems to be a desperate attempt at making up responses to questions as they arise, thus raising far more questions on the project.
“Firstly, we have never disputed the need for the additional 55km Gombak-Port Klang link.
“Secondly, is the Transport Minister telling us that HSS consultants, who have completed many mega-infrastructure projects in the country, are so stupid as to use the 2009-2010 exchange rates to calculate the cost of the project, even though they finalised the report only in December 2015 when the exchange rate was already RM4 to the USD by then?”
“Finally, I agree there is an increase in tunnel length through the Titiwangsa range from 30km to 50km, and it would certainly increase the cost of construction. But why take a 50km tunnel route across Titiwangsa range if HSS recommended the much shorter 30km route?” Pua said to counter the three points made by Liow.
He further questioned Liow on how did the government finalise the changes to the alignment of the ECRL within six months or so, when it had taken the previous consultants six years to finalise the original assessment.
“Was a new engineering consultant actually appointed to carry out a new study which could be completed in such a time-frame?
“Liow should immediately order that both the HSS feasibility study and the subsequent study which changed the scope of the HSS study be released to the public,” Pua said.
Liow explains price rationale for RM55b East Coast Rail Link