The controversial RM17 billion electrified double-track railway project came under fire in Parliament Monday (26 May) when Dr Mohamed Hayati Othman (PAS-Pendang) claimed that the cost of the project doubled from RM8 billion to RM16 billion because the job was given to companies closely linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

This immediately riled Members from the ruling Barisan Nasional bench. The session was disrupted briefly as some backbenchers objected to the PAS representative claim that the company was awarded the project because it was under the 'armpit' (ketiak) of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia then called on members of parliament not to use inappropriate words while the House was in session.

Replying to Dr Mohamed, Deputy Transport Minister Lajim Ukin said the job was awarded to a company with potential and not based on the company's influence. Bernama reported Lajim as saying the company Ircon (International Limited) was also picked based on the success of (local) companies securing contracts to build highways in India. He did not say whether this was a trade-off deal.

He did not deny the allegations of links to the Abdullah’ s family saying only, “What is wrong if someone, be they the children of the Prime Minister, or children of the opposition, can strive to get contracts overseas. It is not wrong," he said during the question-and-answer session of the Dewan Rakyat.

Lajim said the total cost of the rail project was RM16.9 billion of which RM12.5 billion for the Ipoh-Padang Besar stretch and RM3.5 billion for the Seremban-Gemas length while the number of squatters re-settled for both phases till October 2007 was 1,607 families.

The Times of India reported 17 May that a $1-billion contract with signed with the Malaysian government at the ministry of transport in Kuala Lumpur by Indian Railway Construction (Ircon) International Ltd, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways.

It said Indian Railways had bagged the billion-dollar contract to construct a 103-km-long high-speed rail segment in Malaysia in January 2008, was awarded the project for building an electrified double line (two parallel tracks) in the Malaysia's Seremban-Gemas region.

"The deal signed is significant in the sense it will be executed on a turnkey basis. In addition to designing and building the double line, electrification and signalling works will also be done," said an Ircon official in Malaysia.

The "double tracking" project bagged by Ircon is the biggest ever project given to the firm by any foreign country. In fact, the company has already taken up and completed 12 projects in the country, according to Ircon sources. (MySinchew)

Comments (28)

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written by asguard, May 26, 2008 16:44:39

Whatever it is Barang Naik surely have its own way of doing things... which always against the interests of the country only to benefit a few...in power...

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written by joeawk, May 26, 2008 16:45:43

Hey, how many will use the railway when it is completed? 17.6 billion,that is a lot of money and is it neccessary to spend it on upgrading the railway. Does the amount cover the whole length from P Besar to JB or Singapore?

Can an independent cost audit be conducted on the project? We no longer believe that there is no mark up for middlemen, whoever they may be. We also do not want a case where Malaysia pay additional 5 billion here and they pay malaysian contractor an additional 5 billion in India.

In so far as UMNO is concerned, we believe that it can happen. Plerase do not commit malaysians to such hefty liability.

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written by Arubin, May 26, 2008 17:03:15

Why the uproar? Its an open secret by now. Not like the rakyat don't actually know whats going on.

Government awards the contract at an super inflated cost to a local company (experience and ability to handle the task is irrelevant) owned by a crony (usually a bumi, but not necessarily) who in turn subcontract it out at a lesser fee to another company (maybe local, likely international) who can actually do the job. Difference is pocketed as commission despite the fact the local company actually contributed nothing of value to the project except be the middlemen.

Which part of this did I get wrong? Feel free to correct.

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written by ksauyong, May 26, 2008 17:34:20

Now I know why Sabah did not progress. We have MPs like Ronald Kiandee who is ignorant and has the intelligence of a country bumpkin - not surprising as he represents Beluran, one of the poorest constituency in Sabah, and now Laijim Ukin, who by asking what's wrong with giving contracts to the PM's children, cannot diffrentiate between right and wrong. Pity us Sabahans

Sabahan

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written by slash n burn, May 26, 2008 17:39:46

RM17Billion is huge to eradicate poverty and to build basic infrastructures in the less develope region of this country especially the backward Sabah. Are the BN/UMNO leaders to blind to see our fellow citizen live without proper road, electricity or barefooted to school while mega projects like this being given priority instead.

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written by Thesinner, May 26, 2008 17:45:31

“What is wrong if someone, be they the children of the Prime Minister, or children of the opposition, can strive to get contracts overseas. It is not wrong,"

Yeah what's wrong for the Prime Minister's son got some projects from PETRONAS But...........I rest my case.

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written by timberguy, May 26, 2008 17:54:33

How smooth of this Lajim guy to talk about Irkon part (RM3.5 billion, and we did not pay for it in cash, but in palm oil)... They want people to think about the southern part of doubletracking, whereby PM's child & his European partner are involved in the 12.5 billion northern part awarded to Gamuda-MMC, but the beneficiary is well-known European company that is well-known for paying big bucks to secure projects... Figure out the rest!

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written by *****stail, May 26, 2008 17:57:45

The cost for building a double track railway is quite easy to quantify and cost work out is as follows: Rm 16B divided by the X km of railway distance. All these years the BN goons have mastered the art of whacking public money by paying inflated compensation on land acquisitions along stretches of pocket lands beside the railway line. I have evident whereby a piece of 2.67 acres of waste land being compensated for Rm 17m where this whole piece of 30 acres land was given out for only Rm 500,000.00 by the state government! I've given the whole documents of prove to Tony Phua aka Graftbuster but to date no action being taken. sad.

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written by maverick, May 26, 2008 18:16:37

what else is news. we've heard this type of price mark up endless times.

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written by harryo, May 26, 2008 18:17:35

PR, continue for your quest on justice and justification. Don't worry about BN. Their mouth is full but empty words.

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written by riau, May 26, 2008 18:22:41

Didn't know India is the leading country in the world that has a world class railway system??? Viewing the Discovery Channel and NG programmes on the India railways, their railway system looks so 1940s. You see people sitting on the roof carriages and black smoke billowing from the head locomotives.

What I know is that the Europeans and the Japanese have world class railway networks and systems. Even better than the Brits. So what's up with this India-Malaysia railway deal?

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written by KKchan, May 26, 2008 18:23:01

I thought when AAB became PM he scrapped all the mega projects of TDM, including this one. Now it is being revived. Why did he scrap and revive it? Just to piss off TDM or get new players? It's probably both. In Parlaiment we are told his family members are interested in the project. That's revealing!

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written by carlitos, May 26, 2008 18:59:28

Wah 12.5 billion untuk 300km??!!!!
1 km = RM 42 juta!!!

Tripoli-Ras Jedir, Libya - 191 km for total of RM 1.4 billion which is
1km = RM 7.5 million!

So in Malaysia it cost us 6x more than libya / km??!!!

kaya betul tu siapa yang dapat kontrak!! patut pun ramai jadi billionaire. I am 100% sure the lands along the path where the rail will be built are now owned by politicians. Further increase the cost to build the rail.

A study by the Australian Department of Infrastructure.

to build high speed double rail in 2007/2008 = AUD 4.5 million / km in Australia today.

So that is RM 13.5 million / km? How come Malaysia cost RM 42 milion / km?

Is our indonesian laborers salary much higher than Australian workers? If it is I want to have that job!!!

siang siang hari dia orang mau rompak wang rakyat!!! Anyone here who got children who they cannot afford to send to university????

that is where OUR $$ goes to!! straight into their own pockets

Anyone here still want to vote for Barisan Najis???

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written by CVL, May 26, 2008 19:02:43

When Lajim went on to say ‘What is wrong if someone, be they the children of the Prime Minister, or children of the opposition, can strive to get contracts overseas….?’, he was saying he grew up that way back in Sabah. Roads, and the rail in Sabah, are the living proof how systemic corruption has been and is going on in Sabah. It is also a proof that corruption bleeds the nation.

Go visit Sabah, travel any tarred road and you will experience Sabah’s road engineering at its best – full of unevenness you would wish you were travelling on laterite or graveled pathways. For road engineering to go awry this way, one can be forgiven to think the district JKR road engineers are drunk 24/7, or that they take no as built samples. But no, these road contractors are always connected to the ruling BN who then subcontract the work out, ending perhaps just mere 20 to 30 pc of actual contract value spent on actual road building. The larger portion would have gone to the main contractor whose only road building work is cheque banking in.

Lajim would probably find offence in giving contracts to professional people who have no connection to the ruling party, and that he would probably view that as being unpatriotic. After all doing so would mean no kick backs, and that money lost and gone outside the system.

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written by krepot, May 26, 2008 19:29:09

There is not enough food, prices are sky rocketing, jobs are decreasing and the government finally find it necessary to invest and to build a double tracking line through economically under developed parts of Malaysia. At the same time, Sabahans are crying out for some attention and help and they deemed this more necessary for the moment!

Can someone please enlighten me as how KTM is going to suddenly turn around without a good leadership and proper management?

17 billion on 1 stupid project is a lot of money.

Don't believe me? Ask the daily commuters taking the KTM Komuter to work. If you can't get that right, what makes you think you are going to get this mega project right?

Go figure!

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written by shiokguy, May 26, 2008 19:39:58

Just for the joke of it..
The cost increase is due to inflation lah!
ha ha ha
sorry I am feeling kind of funny today. everything seems to be very funny..



Look at this picture which i took yesterday.. price was 31.99 last year.

Link Malaysian Inflation: http://shiokguy.blogspot.com/2...-rate.html

Shiok Guy

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written by binarytan, May 26, 2008 20:02:01

Good work PR, do not give too much leeway to the BN top corrupted people.

All the crow are dark, all BN top guns are highly and deadly corrupted people.

Still wanna to fool the nation where we have 82 members in the parliament now.

PR must take over federal ASAP. Grand Saga going to take action again this week with full backup of FRU and PDRM, which do not even protect nation properties.

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written by raven1958, May 26, 2008 20:20:38

BN including the maha penyamun AAB just want to rompak the rakyat dry.....what should we do to these sought of politicians who steal and steal steal.....

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written by ganbing, May 26, 2008 20:27:17

Don't be sidetracked over the cost, exorbitant though it is, Umno style. Is this horrendously expensive project even justified? Will there be enough rail passengers to make it economically feasible? Has a viability study even been done?

How much of our goods and passengers go by train these days? Only recently in parliament, it as revealed that KTM loses hundreds of millions every year.

Me thinks we are just sinking billions into a useless white elephant project so that Umno cronies can get their corruption money.

The money could have been used to improve public transportation in the Klang Valley and Penang which would bring more benefits to the people like building a mass rapid transit system.

But what does this BN govt. care about benefits to the people? Whatever they do, its only about benefits to themselves.

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written by Commonsenses, May 26, 2008 20:28:19

“What is wrong if someone, be they the children of the Prime Minister, or children of the opposition, can strive to get contracts overseas. It is not wrong," he said during the question-and-answer session of the Dewan Rakyat.

You brainless and stupid MP and Deputy minister of transport, that's nepotism and corruption, no wonderlah we have the port fiasco. He openly encouraged these despicable practises.

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written by shissun, May 26, 2008 20:42:49

Another case of ISA (ikut suka aku) policy. Use our country money and enrich their own members. Any sane people can sniff out nepotism here. Your son's company to get contract and paid by rakyat money, where got check and balance? If your son company can do the job with less profit, better quality nevermind, but your son overchange and you just pay because the money will eventually go to your family right? Hey, you bastard, you can take the money, but you will choked to death with this money. Remember Zakaria Mat Deros? If the tragedy can happen to him, it could happen to you.

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written by mgeo, May 26, 2008 20:51:24

With such huge figures rising from behind the scenes, can anyone say this statement of mine is nonsense:
"We can save RM 50 billion over 10 years if we
a. provide free public bus service (or pay private companies to provide the service), and
b. cancel all new highway and rail construction, and close down KTM."

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written by br_teacher, May 26, 2008 21:28:14

one funny sight to share....
i travel along the tuaran highway in sabah on saturday...somewhere near kg. bakut.
i saw the highway was closed one lane and wondering whether there was an road accident just occured.
but to my surprise, there were a few man working with kettle on their hand, pouring melted tar to paste the holes on the road surface...i think this stretch of road must be still in warranty period.
this show how the road work performed in such a low quality/standard.
but are we accepting this way of road maintainance?

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written by lynn, May 26, 2008 21:36:01

So now we know, no matter how TDM tells AAB off, he won't. One more project first, after that he is ready to leave, quit, go to Perth. It's all about the money, isn't it? WTF do we need a double-track railway for?
Wonder what umno grassroot members are thinking when they read this? Is this the gov't you guys want to support still?

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written by Msian 2, May 26, 2008 22:47:26

Wah.$17 billion is no spare change. If some govt linked Company can benefit from huge kickbacks like the fighter planes/submarines fiasco -- this kickback for a $17 billion project could be in the billion dollar range. Someone is going to be sooooo fat.

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written by Ann Meng Sim, May 27, 2008 12:38:12

17 billion to build some stupid shit just for a stupid sleepy man's family to get more money before he goes off.

Coem to Kuching. Come see what lamp posts we have. Those that were built in the 50s!!! Come see our roads... come drive along Green Road.. We call is Green RIver cos it is so bumpy that you will feel like you are traveling in a sampan in the rough sea!!

Use part of that 17 million for SArawak , you bunch of stupid ass!!!

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written by tino_chan1988, May 27, 2008 15:42:25

Woowwww....... if Carlitos (comments posted on 26th May 200 statistics is in anyway accurate, then Malaysia should be re-categorized as a DEVELOPED NATION with immediate effect. At RM42 miilion/km, Malaysia should be one of the richest, if not richest nation in the world.

The project should be worth every penny of it. I would expect nothing less than a full-scale Dineyland every 100km, coupled with 5-6 stars spas and resort hotels every 50km and ultra modern 300km/hour Japanese hi-tech tehnotechnolgy trains serving the route, modelling the best in the world.

And to add to that, the people involved in the actual hard-labour-on-site work must include American actors and actresses, the best of German engineers, etc, etc at an hourly rate of RM2000-RM10000/hr to reach the RM42 million/km mark.

Ahhhhhh.... what the heck... might as well buy the world's best Time Machine for future use. Nothing should be more well spend than that!

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written by malaysia devil, May 27, 2008 18:50:55

WILL UMNO SURVIVE?
The fear among many people of UMNO ever breaking-up is being allayed by their trust in Dr Mahathir. There is nothing that he cannot fix. In fact, he, and the party may even come out more triumphant in any crisis. So goes the thought. Will it work this time around? To get an idea, let's look at some aspects of UMNO's less bright side. To begin with the party lacks renewed idealism. Its membership is elicited among social climbers with corporate ambitions, rather than among those with a commitment to a cause. As some would see it, in UMNO, the only cause worth dying for (or lying for) is money.
read more at: http://malaysianindian1.blogsp...rvive.html

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