EXCLUSIVE | Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has dismissed Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's statement that there are "hidden files" proving that the LRT3 is a mini-1MDB.
Speaking to Malaysiakini today, he said the project does not cost RM31.65 billion as alleged.
Pointing out that Lim himself admitted that Prasarana had written a letter requesting for an additional RM22 billion in government guarantees for the LRT3 only on March 30, 2018, Najib said that the request was not entertained by the then Finance Ministry.
"No approval was given and their request was not accepted. Every time, an agency requests for budget does not mean that the government will accept. In fact, we reject more requests than we accept," he added.
Najib, who was also the former finance minister, said when the letter was received, it was close to the general election, which was held a month later.
Therefore, he said it would have been impossible for the approval to be given as such projects needed to be deliberated and subsequently approved at the Economic Council and then the Ministry of Finance.
"No such approval was given. Period.
“No contracts worth RM15 billion or RM31 billion were signed. In fact, the letter seeking for the additional RM22 billion never even reached me and I was the finance minister then.
"As this mythical RM31.65 billion was not approved or contracted, how can the current finance minister claim that this is a scandal or that this amount will restrict doing other projects or for Pakatan Harapan to fulfil their manifesto promise? What hidden file on LRT3 is he talking about?" he asked.
Show the contract or additional guarantee
Najib said that it would have been impossible for his government to approve such a tripling of costs as the project was already approved based on an RM9 billion cost that was announced to the public.
"You can look back at previous media reports. In 2015, Prasanna themselves gave a public assurance that they will work within the RM9 billion budget.
“Please ask Lim to show us the LRT3 contract for RM31 billion or that there was RM22 billion additional guarantee given to Prasarana,” he added.
Najib said the media should instead ask Lim why his project of RM9 billion has now become RM16.6 billion despite scaling down the trains and numerous stations.
"In the new Malaysia, is RM16.6 billion considered less than RM9 billion?
“Is it standard operating procedure to blame everything on me whenever they cannot fulfil their manifesto promises?" he added. -Mkini
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