THE East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) will cost more than RM55 billion, said Daim Zainuddin, head of the Council of Eminent Persons.

The former finance minister said the project’s planned Phase 2 will cost the government another RM11 billion.

“Take into account the interest rate, and it will probably be much more. These are the figures we got from the meeting,” he said at Menara Ilham today.

It was reported that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said he would do away with ECRL should Pakatan Harapan win the 14th general election, as the project was “impractical and unfeasible”.

The PH chairman had said the roads in Kelantan and along the east coast should be upgraded instead.

Asked if there is a possibility that the project would be cancelled, Daim said he is unsure.

“I don’t know. The Chinese government is friendly, and we have a long relationship, since 1964.

“During the 22 years of Dr Mahathir’s administration (his first time as prime minister), we never had any problems (with China).”

ECRL would be the nation’s longest rail project, with 688km of rail link to be built by CCCC, a leading transportation infrastructure group that has been named the third best international contractor globally. MRL would be tasked as the project owner. – May 18, 2018.