PM Najib Razak has no moral authority to claim a savings of RM 2bil in the MRT construction cost, when the figures were always opaque from the get go.
The best figure we have were RM47bil for the construction of all 3 MRT lines, which total 150km. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/upload/ETP_TheEdge_Pull_out.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwi_jeaI2f3QAhVGwI8KHREyBuA4ChAWCB4wAg&usg=AFQjCNFC8o191hI3CMmXI1F_xR9flphicw&sig2=ZrXiG-kJDQ-m-L3VXPznnw)
With RM47bil as the total cost, a figure that is already high by international standards, PM Najib and SPAD need to explain how much will the upcoming MRT line 2 (Sg Buluh Serdang Putrajaya) and MRT circle line (line 3) cost.
With RM 21bil already spent on MRT line 1, the balance RM 26bil will surely not be enough, especially with current news reports of the Line 2 costing RM 40bil. This to me is massive cost overruns from what former minister and Pemandu CEO Idris Jala informed us when he mooted this massive project.
Malaysians should not be burnt again and again. It’s time the government comes clean on all cost estimates of upcoming big projects and submits to Parliament the detailed reasoning for all these cost overruns.
This may be a off the budget project, but it’s ultimately the public that’s going to pay for its massive cost.