HSR Project Hidden Costs Not Disclosed - Economic Affairs Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- The previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government did not disclose the full cost of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR), the lower huse of Parliament or Dewan Rakyat was told Wednesday. Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said the actual project cost of RM110 billion and not RM55 billion as previously announced by the BN government was the reason for the non-disclosure. “The RM55 billion is the project cost. However, as in many matters, there are hidden costs that were not disclosed by the previous government. “Therefore, as Pakatan Harapan (PH) is the current government, we have a responsibility to disclose in full all the costs for this project,” he said during the question-and-answer session in Dewan Rakyat Wednesday. Mohamed Azmin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Gombak, was responding to a supplementary question from Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) on the doubling of the estimated cost for the HSR project compared with the original cost previously announced. He said the government is evaluating its ability to pay for the project through regular discussions with the Singaporean government. “We will see to the extent where the government is able to pay for this project because if it cannot be implemented in today’s economic situation, the government has to take a stand with Singapore to ensure all terms of the (HSR project) agreement are adhered to,” Mohamed Azmin said. Responding to the original question from Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk) on the HSR project, Mohamed Azmin said Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas has examined the contents of the HSR Bilateral Agreement (BA) signed on Dec 13, 2016, and the AG opined that any issues must be resolved in accordance to the law which also included bilateral discussions. “Based the advice of the AG, we are looking at all options. “It is clear the BA included clauses for either party to cancel the project, subject to the agreement’s terms and conditions,” he added. -- BERNAMA