Lawmaker questions cost discrepancy between five revived LRT3 stations and Penang LRT project

• Bukit Bintang Member of Parliament Fong Kui Lun pointed out that the Penang LRT project, spanning 23 stations, is estimated to cost RM10 billion, while the five revived stations under LRT3 will cost RM4.7 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 25): A lawmaker has questioned the significant cost difference between the estimated costs for the construction of five previously cancelled Light Rail Transit Line (LRT3) stations in the Klang Valley and Penang's much larger LRT project.

In Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, Bukit Bintang Member of Parliament Fong Kui Lun (pictured) pointed out that the Penang LRT project, spanning 23 stations, is estimated to cost RM10 billion, while the five revived stations under LRT3 will cost RM4.7 billion.

“The cost for these five stations — Tropicana, Raja Muda, Temasya, Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanik — is almost half the cost of the Penang LRT project.

“Furthermore, these five LRT stations are not greenfield projects, the basic work including the viaduct and basic structure is already ongoing under the current contract,” Fong said during the Budget 2024 debate session.

“Why is there a significant cost discrepancy between these two projects?” he questioned, noting that Dewan Rakyat should discuss the issue to ensure the sensible use of taxpayer money to ensure accountability in national projects.

Allow NFOs to operate online to combat shadow economy, optimise tax collection

On a separate matter, Fong urged the government to consider allowing licensed numbers forecast operators (NFOs) to operate online to combat illegal operators in the unregulated shadow economy that is rapidly growing in the digital domain.

“This positions licensed NFOs as allies in the fight against the shadow economy by levelling the playing field, besides facilitating NFO-related organisations to operate online. 

“This will improve tax collection by allowing the market to regulate itself by adapting to existing dynamics,” he urged.

He said that via this method, the government can reduce the influence of the shadow economy while also optimising tax revenue collection.

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