CHINESE contractor China Communications Construction Company (ECRL) Sdn Bhd will have to compensate the workers whose services it terminated, Putrajaya said today, adding that the federal government did not hire them.

“These workers were hired by CCCC for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, so it’s their duty to handle the compensation,” said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in the Dewan Rakyat.

“The government, however, is prepared to help once a final decision is made.”

Lim (PH-Bagan) was replying to a supplementary question by Dr Ismail Abdul Mutalib (BN-Maran) on the fate of 2,000 locals who were laid off by CCCC, following the government’s decision to suspend ECRL.

CCCC laid off the workers last month after the government announced that it would suspend the project, pending a review.

Ismail also asked how the government plans to compensate landowners following the project’s suspension.

Lim said Putrajaya is willing to compensate them for any work done on their land.

“If the process of taking over the land (under the Land Acquisition Act) has not been completed, the compensation will depend on the losses suffered. If compensation has already been paid, the land belongs to the government.”

Earlier, he told Parliament that the ECRL costs are estimated at RM81 billion, after taking into account RM11 billion in financing costs.

He said the previous government had listed the total cost as RM55 billion – RM46 billion for Phase 1, from Selangor to Wakaf Bharu in Kelantan, and RM9 billion for Phase 2, from Gombak to Port Klang.

But, he said, this did not include the additional cost of RM11.78 billion for works from Wakaf Bharu to Pengkalan Kubor approved by the cabinet last year, making it RM66.78 billion.

He said with the RM11.09 billion in financing costs, the actual total is RM80.92 billion.

Lim told the House that negotiations with China are ongoing.

He said the government has yet to reach a point of agreement with Beijing, but things are smoother after Council of Eminent Persons chairman Daim Zainuddin’s visit to China last month.

“The government still wants to reduce the costs. The operational costs for the project are very high, and the project cannot sustain the operational costs, estimated at between RM600 million and RM1 billion.” – August 15, 2018.