Former transport minister and DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong had vindicated the previous Pakatan Harapan administration on the Klang Valley Double Tracking (Phase 2) (KVDT2) project with his written Parliamentary reply on Aug 3.
The DAP secretary-general said he wants Wee and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to "eat back their own words" over the brickbats they had cast at Harapan over the project.
"Wee's reply showed that the government appointed the same contractor at the same price tag," Loke said.
In his Aug 3 reply, Wee wrote that the KVDT 2 project would go ahead with the cost maintained at RM4.475 billion, and Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd was issued a letter of award on July 29.
Loke pointed out that the cost of RM4.475 billion was maintained despite Wee stating on Aug 20, 2020, that the pricing was too expensive.
In the same month, Zafrul said that the KVDT2 project awarded to Dhaya Maju LTAT was among the 101 projects awarded via direct negotiation during the Harapan era.
"I ask Zafrul and Wee, in particular, to eat back their own words. They talked big and appeared as though they were championing for an open tender while Harapan went for direct negotiation," he said.
Loke also reminded that the BN administration awarded the KVDT2 project at the price of RM5.2 billion on April 5, 2018, one day before then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak dissolved Parliament and paved the way for GE14.
He said Liow Tiong Lai was the then transport minister.
Loke said the Harapan government, following its GE14 victory, had no choice but to stick to the agreement between the federal government and the contractor as a letter of award was given to DM-LTAT.
While it is not an official agreement inked between both sides, he said the letter of award is still legally enforceable, and the legal implications were expensive where the government may need to pay up to RM3 billion in compensation in case the contract is terminated.
Loke, however, said the Harapan government managed to bring down the price tag to RM4.475 billion from RM5.2 billion.
Zafrul said in August 2020 that 101 contracts were awarded through a direct negotiation process during the time Harapan was in power, and KVDT 2 was the largest in terms of value.
Following this, the Transport Ministry pledged to reopen the tender for the project.
This prompted DM-LTAT, a joint-venture between Dhaya Maju Infrastructure (Asia) Sdn Bhd and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT), to file a lawsuit in a bid to have the contract termination ruled as null and void.
DM-LTAT and Putrajaya arrived at an out-of-court settlement after the cabinet decided on May 18 to allow the company to continue with the project. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.