MALAYSIA’S mega projects with China, which Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration is trying to scrap, were attempts by the former Barisan Nasional government to save the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd, said a senior journalist.

P. Gunasegaram said the inflated costs of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and two gas pipeline projects were meant to cover 1MDB’s debt.

“ECRL is RM20 billion more expensive, while the gas pipelines are RM10 billion more costly, to cover the debt,” he said at the launch of his book, 1MDB: The Scandal That Brought Down a Government, in Petaling Jaya today.

The book is published by the Strategic Information and Research Development Centre.

Last month, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that ECRL’s construction cost was RM81 billion after taking into account land acquisition costs, interests, fees and other operational costs.

The amount was RM30 billion more than what former prime minister Najib Razak’s administration had stated.

Following an official trip to China earlier this month, Dr Mahathir said Putrajaya would cancel the three projects due to their inflated costs.

He later said further studies were needed to decide whether to defer the projects or resolve the issue through other means.

In an interview with The Malaysian Insight, the prime minister said there were parties offering to take on ECRL for as low as RM10 billion, and Putrajaya would consider the cheaper alternatives as it would be “stupid” to ignore them.

Najib, however, has denied the Pakatan Harapan government’s claims, and urged it to set up a royal commission of inquiry to investigate whether there was any wrongdoing in the three projects.

He said Dr Mahathir should reveal the documents concerning the projects so that the people could judge for themselves.

On his book, co-written by KiniBiz, Gunasegaram said it was the first of its kind to detail the 1MDB scandal.

“This book is the record of something terrible that happened to Malaysia, which was saved by the 14th general election.

“We can say it was 1MDB that brought down the BN government, along with other issues like GST (goods and services tax).”

The book identifies several individuals allegedly responsible for the scandal, which is being investigated by Malaysia and other countries.

Gunasegaram said it would take a long time for justice to be served in the case.

1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund, was Najib’s brainchild. – August 28, 2018.