TRANSPORT Minister Wee Ka Siong has agreed that a rail project was awarded by the previous MCA president at an inflated price when he announced the RM4.4 billion contract would be retendered, said DAP.

The Klang Valley Double Tracking 2 project was first awarded in 2018 at RM5.26 billion by then transport minister Liow Tiong Lai, Wee’s predecessor as MCA president. 

When Pakatan Harapan took power after the election later that year, Anthony Loke, who took over the transport cabinet post, oversaw the renegotiation of the contract down to RM4.475 billion.

Yesterday, Wee said RM4.475 was still overpriced and the contract will be tendered.

The awarding of the KVDT 2 project has become the main front in the battle between PH and Perikatan Nasional over the transparency practices of the two blocs when it comes to directly negotiated contracts. 

Today, Loke said in a Facebook post that Wee was effectively saying the past MCA president had awarded an overpriced contract.

“Today, the MCA Transport Minister (Wee) has cancelled the KVDT2 project that was approved by another former MCA Transport Minister (Liow) because the current MCA Transport minister agrees that the original price approved by the former MCA Transport Minister is too high,” Loke wrote on his Facebook page.

“The question that should be asked by Wee is why his friend Liow, who was the MCA president and Transport Minister when the project was first approved, did not get a third party assessment before approving the contract?” Loke wrote.

“(That the) contract was awarded to Dhaya Maju LTAT at a price of RM5.26 billion a day before parliament was dissolved on April 4, 2018?”

Liow was MCA president until 2018 while Wee was his deputy.

Loke said during his term as minister between May 2018 to February 2020, PH tried to bring down KVDT2’s cost and had hired third-party experts to look into it.

Loke had proposed to the cabinet to cancel the project and give it out through open tender as this process could reduce the price to between RM3 – 3.5 billion.

However, the cabinet on July 5, 2019, decided to continue with the project but slash the price by 15% mainly because to cancel it would have legal implications and possibly result in the government having to compensate the contractor, Loke said. – August 29, 2020.