The DAP National Publicity Secretary questioned if Liow even knew what he was talking about by claiming that the RM55 billion is not the cost of construction.
“Liow tried to allay concerns among the Malaysian public by claiming that the amount is merely the value of the Financing Framework Agreement.
“We have no idea whether he knows what he is talking about or whether he has even seen or read the above agreements given that his deputy told Parliament it was not under the purview of the Transport Ministry but is instead under the Prime Mininster’s Department,” Pua said referring to Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi, who gave that as his reason for not answering queries posted in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the ECRL last week.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP then cited news reports from April 2014 that quoted East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Development Council CEO Jebasingam Issac John as saying that the ECRL will cost approximately RM30 billion.
“If the figure cited is indeed true and is the same figure Liow is referring to, perhaps the Transport Minister should enlighten Malaysians as to where the balance of RM25 billion to be borrowed from China’s Exim Bank for the ECRL project will go to.
“Can Liow guarantee Malaysians that the excess borrowings will not be misappropriated, perhaps even to bailout 1MDB debts? Is the government digging a bigger hole for itself in order to cover up the previous holes?”
“The question hence, arises as to why is the government awarding the 600km ECRL project to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) at RM55 billion or RM91.7 million per kilometer without any open competitive tender exercise?” Pua said.
He chided the MCA president for trying to assure Malaysians that the ECRL was “very transparent” and that industry players were well aware of the cost per kilometre of the rail that would be laid.
“The Prime Minister himself disclosed during his Budget 2017 address that ‘the 600km rail will connect townships such as Port Klang, ITT Gombak, Bentong, Mentakab, Kuantan, Kemaman, Kerteh, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru and ends in Tumpat, with an estimated cost of RM55 billion’.
“So what is the ‘real’ cost of the project that Liow is referring to and why can’t he reveal it? Why should Malaysia borrow RM55 billion if the cost of the rail project is significantly less?
“Malaysians fear a repeat of the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal where the state-owned company borrowed US$3.5 billion and RM6.8 billion, or approximately RM18.3 billion (at the then exchange rate of US$1:RM3.30) to acquire Tanjong Power and Genting Sanyen power plants for RM10.8 billion,” Pua said.
He alleged that the balance of the proceeds from the borrowings, US$1.367 billion were siphoned to a fictitious British Virgin Islands incorporated Aabar Investment PJS Limited under the guise of a “collateral” to secure the bond guaratees by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (Ipic).