Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has confirmed that he is one of four ministers in a committee set up by the Cabinet to revisit the Mass Rapid Transit 2 (MRT2) underground contract.

He said the committee will re-examine the contract with a view to reduce its cost.

"That was the Cabinet's decision. I would like to reiterate that while we recognise that the country is in large debt, the government is still focused on sustainable economic growth.

"We will not stop all the (infrastructure) projects because that will have a (negative) impact on the growth of our domestic economy," he told reporters at the sidelines of South China Morning Post's China Conference.

"So in this context, we will re-examine the project to reduce its costs. We will look into it, but the need (for the project) is still there," he added.

On Sunday, the government announced the termination of the contract to build the underground portion of MRT2 that was awarded to MMC Gamuda KVMRT (T) Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Gamuda Bhd and MMC Corp Bhd.

This came about after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on reducing the costs of the contract.

Azmin said the committee will start re-examining the contract soon "because we don't intend to hold the project" and want to make a decision "as soon as possible".

He also gave an assurance that the discussions will take into consideration the government's desire to protect the workers of the project.

"We do not want anyone (involved in the project) to lose their jobs," he said.

The Edge Financial Daily reported about the committee today, naming Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Works Minister Baru Bian, and Transport Minister Anthony Loke as the other three members.   — theedgemarkets.com

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