Transparency in the MRT project — The Malaysian Insider

MARCH 29 — It is a rare day when a top government official or someone within the civil service or statutory body or government company stratosphere ever speaks out or clears the air over issues.

For that, we have to commend Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal who wrote on the advantages of having a Project Delivery Partner (PDP) in the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project.

See, we would love to take the word of SPAD or Nur Kamal on possible cost overruns and the appointment of MMC-Gamuda as the PDP. After all, the conglomerate came up with a better plan than SPAD or the government in the past couple of decades.

But the simple fact is that there has been absolutely no transparency in the award of the MRT contract. It was a Cabinet decision and before you know it, July 16 was announced as the groundbreaking day without even completing environmental assessments and other issues being aired and solved.

Yes, we know. It is a priority project. But it has to be done the right way. Not steam rolled and taken as fait accompli.

Also, while it is all very nice public relations to list other projects around the world, the fact is that is cost overrun, variation orders and inflated contracts is the name of the game in Malaysia, especially when it involves well-connected companies.

For that, there is no better example than Sime Darby’s experience in Qatar.

And by the time Malaysians taxpayers are saddled with a higher than expected bill for the MRT, these few things would have happened:-

a) Nur Kamal could be long gone from his job and all his assurances will amount to squat

b) Some individuals would have made serious cash at the expense to Malaysian taxpayers

c) Malaysians taxpayers will be told some long story on inflation and rising cost of materials.

And also told that despite spike in costs, it is not possible to stop project or give to another company. Sound familiar?

We have seen this all before in other public infrastructure projects. PKFZ? Double-track rail? Ports? Do we really need a re-run of such experiences and prove that Malaysian forget easily?

Also, don’t expect Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to provide any scrutiny of costs or perform a watchdog role. They would probably be jostling for a place on an overseas junket (lawatan sambil belajar) rather than checking every line of the budget.

At this point, and rightly so, no one knows the entire cost of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line. No one knows how the projects will be tendered out. No one knows how will it be financed.

But this we know. It is public funds. Not by the grace of a wealthy government using its own money. We elect a government to run the country for us, not to lord over us.

So we need more than assurances. We need transparency. Every step of the way. It might be a naive thought. But that is how it should be.