ECRL project not under MoT’s purview, says deputy minister

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): The controversial 600km East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project, which is estimated to cost RM55 billion, is under the purview of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and not the ministry of transport (MoT), Parliament was told yesterday.

This was the reason given by Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi on why he could not answer queries posted in Parliament regarding the ECRL when he was wrapping up his speech during the Budget 2017 debate.

“In regard to [the] ECRL queries, I cannot answer that because it is under the EPU; I will let the EPU minister answer that,” he said.

He was responding to a question by Taiping member of parliament Nga Kor Ming, on the rationale behind the price of the ECRL, which was equivalent to a construction cost of about RM92 million per kilometre.

Ab Aziz’s response came just a day after Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai reportedly told Sin Chew Daily that the touted RM55 billion was not the actual cost of constructing the ECRL, but was instead the amount under the financing framework agreement inked with the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China.

Liow, according to Sin Chew Daily’s report yesterday, was also cited as saying that the construction cost of the ECRL was “very transparent” and that industry players were well aware of the cost per kilometre of the rail that would be laid. However, he did not disclose the actual construction cost of the ECRL.

On Tuesday, local mainstream media reported that Malaysia had sealed the deal to build the ECRL with China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC), with financing via soft loans from the Exim Bank of China, during a ceremony witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, in Beijing.

The award of the project to CCCC was confirmed by treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah just a day earlier on Monday, when he said the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract and a financing framework were among the agreements that he would sign during his visit to China with Najib.

Mohd Irwan also reportedly said while the EPCC contract was awarded to CCCC, the financing agreement would be arranged with the Exim Bank of China.

The EPU is a unit within the Prime Minister’s Department and the current minister in charge of the unit is Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Nov 4, 2016. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.