DRAWING on Malaysia’s experience in the controversial East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) project, Dr Mahathir Mohamad will make a special call for transparency on China’s world-spanning mega-projects initiative at an important world summit this week in Beijing.
The prime minister will deliver the special message at the Belt and Road Forum (BRF), said International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking.
The forum is on projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has seen China build multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects in mostly Third-World Asian countries.
Touted as one of the largest international summits this year, the heads and representative of 150 countries will be present.
BRI projects are meant to revive ancient Chinese trade routes, such as the Silk Road and to build new commercial and political links as part of its rise as a global superpower.
Some of these projects, however, such as a US$1.3 billion (RM5.5 billion) port in Sri Lanka and bridges in the Maldives, have been criticised for being debt traps due to their lopsided deals.
In Malaysia, BRI projects and Chinese-funded ventures signed under the former scandal-tainted Barisan Nasional administration have been met with intense scepticism due to their secretive and opaque conditions.
In the run-up to the 14th general election, Dr Mahatir and Pakatan Harapan promised to review all such projects in Malaysia if they were voted into power.
Dr Mahathir’s administration has had to deal with accusations, mostly from members of the former Najib Razak regime, that it was anti-China after it started a review of the ECRL and cancelled a gas pipeline in Sabah.
Later, PH discovered that the ECRL’s price tag was inflated to RM60 billion and the contract contained “strange” conditions.
After almost a year of negotiation, PH managed to bring the price tag down to RM44 billion from RM65.5 billion and the project’s developers agreed to increase the participation of local contractors and suppliers from 30% to 40%.
“We are never against the BRI, we were only against the abuse by some people of projects under BRI and PM was consistent,” Leiking said ahead of the BRF that is expected to start on Friday.
Besides shaving off RM21 billion, the review of the BRI’s new alignment means it will now benefit five states, instead of the previous four.
Leiking said Dr Mahathir’s address at the forum will touch on the issue of transparency and hinted that it could raise eyebrows.
“The PM’s will address (this issue), he will come out to the stage and the exciting thing about him is that he will say his piece and he will sometimes shock and disrupt the world. Most of the time although it is shocking and disrupting to some, they will respect his ideas.”
The government’s success in renegotiating a BRI project has won it praise from international observers who said it could be a “case study” on how other countries can approach their own China-backed ventures. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
ECRL realigned to make Putrajaya transport hub, say sources
THE realignment of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) fits into a plan to turn Putrajaya into a transport hub, said sources.
The resumption of the project under a renegotiated deal with China sees the construction cost reduced to RM44 billion and the rail link slightly shortened and covering new areas, including the administrative capital.
The ECRL will also be connected to a KLIA express station and an MRT2 link, and there is talk of adding the monorail to the network, said the sources.
“Rerouting the ECRL will turn Putrajaya into a transport hub.
“The previous Barisan Nasional government had conducted studies for a monorail and there is now talk of reviving the plan,” a source told The Malaysian Insight.
“If we have four types of transport converging in Putrajaya, it will become a transport hub. We already have a bus system here.”
On April 12, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd signed a supplementary agreement paving the way for the revival of the ECRL project at reduced cost.
Under the new agreement, construction of Phase 1 and 2 will resume and be completed at the cost of RM68 million per km from the original RM98 million per km. This adds up to a total savings of RM21.5 billion.
Realignment of the route will cut the length of the tracks by 40km to 648km.
The new ECRL route covers Kota Baru, Mentakab (Pahang), Jelebu (Negri Sembilan), Kuala Klawang (Negri Sembilan), Bangi/Kajang (Selangor), Putrajaya and Port Klang. Two major stops – Bentong and Gombak – were scrapped.
Under the new terms, Malaysian contractors will build 40% of the project instead of 30%.
A source said the government decided to have the ECRL stop in Jelebu and Kuala Klawang with freight shipping in mind. The Bangi and Kajang stops, meanwhile, were added to increase ridership.
The source said the previous government designed the ECRL to run directly from Serendah in Selangor to Port Klang to avoid congestion at the main Kuala Lumpur station.
“The KTM northern line from Thailand that passes through Penang, Tanjung Malim and Rawang to Serendah is a very busy line. Under the old plan, the ECRL will go to Serendah before going to Klang. This also means the cargo trains will not have to go through Kuala Lumpur to get to Port Klang,” he said.
The source said the entry of cargo trains into Kuala Lumpur would have an effect on the smooth flow of the inter-city electric train service.
“It was agreed that cargo from the north would go through Serendah instead of Kuala Lumpur as the city is very congested.
“From Serendah, cargo and goods could then be sent directly to Port Klang.”
With the new alignment, the Transport Ministry will have to figure out another way to relieve congestion for freight shipped by train from the north, he said.
Meanwhile, Bangi will replace Seremban as the relief stop for freight travelling from Johor.
“The government has worked out the problem of congestion relief in the south but it has yet to do that in the north.”
THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
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