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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

ECRL corruption allegation


Malaysiakini:

MACC confirms receiving report on revived ECRL project



Malaysiakini

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has received a report on alleged abuse of power linked to the relaunched East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.

When contacted, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki confirmed the matter, although he denied a news report which quoted him as confirming an ongoing investigation against a senior politician closely linked to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.




"I just confirmed that the MACC received a report on the ECRL issue.

"But I never mentioned any person," he told Malaysiakini, adding that their identities could not be revealed as MACC has yet to start its investigations.

Azam (below) also said MACC would be scrutinising the report on the ECRL before a decision is made on whether to pursue further investigations.




Malaysiakini understands that the MACC report was lodged by NGO leader Ab Jalil Backer over alleged abuse of power in the Pakatan Harapan government's decision to revive the suspended billion-dollar project.

The ECRL project cost was slashed to RM44 billion, RM21.5 billion cheaper than its reported original cost of RM65.5 billion as first agreed in October 2016 under former premier Najib Abdul Razak's BN administration.

The previous Harapan administration had moved to suspend construction of mega projects including the ECRL, pending renegotiations to lower down its cost.

On April 12, 2019, in Beijing, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) signed a supplementary agreement that resumes the suspended ECRL project, at a lower price.

The revived project was relaunched by then transport minister Anthony Loke last July, almost a year after it was put on hold.



In February, Loke reportedly said the project is expected to be fully completed by mid-2026 and operational by early 2027.

The new ECRL alignment is now shortened by 40km from 688km to 648km - from Kota Bahru in Kelantan and runs south through Mentakab, Jelebu, Kuala Kelawang, Bangi, Kajang, Putrajaya, and terminating at Port Klang.




7 comments:

  1. Don't worry, Dr Wee KHAT Siong the new Menteri Jaga Kereta is here. He will investigate and get the project cost down another 30% and re-launch ECRL-baru-er.

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  2. If what the complainer is saying is the re-aligned cost now should be 30B instead of 44B then doesn't it make the original BN cost of 80B even more suspect?

    A relatively small re-alignment and the cost comes down from 80B to 30B?

    Wee KHAT Siong can investigate and sort out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the re-aligned cost is officially re-negotiated to 44 bil. the original included many stations, facilities, etc etc etc discarded off to make the 44 billion

      Delete
    2. Ktemoc believes Bossku is the Tooth Fairy

      Delete
  3. Talking about corruption allegations the suggestion now is to distribute the cash bantuan using e-wallets.

    They could not even manage implementing it (RFIDs, e-wallets) at toll booths, had to cancel after months attempting to implement, imagine if they were allowed to distribute billions at short notice.....

    All this is cash mind you, all to be disbursed in a matter of a few months, not building a railway line that will take years.

    Somebody better make an MACC report quick...who stands to gain from this..

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  4. What about the original eye-watering $65 Billion price tag ?
    I am 100% convinced THAT was a corrupt deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More than 80B if you include interest, as pointed out by the provisional accountant and book-keeper.

      Delete