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Double track illusion

Alex

Published: Nov 18, 2003 10:41 AM

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Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM

What PY Chin wrote in the New Straits Times (' Money game: Double-tracking rail vision' ) on Nov 16 reveals only half-truths. It was a public relations exercise to praise the corrupt vision of the leadership and the emerging crony regime.

It is an open secret that MMC is just merely 'Ali' in this contract, while 'Baba' Gamuda is playing the white knight to save the nation.

Chin fails to address:

Why Ircon-CREC quoted RM42 billion and if there is any irregularity or hidden cost due to graft

Why there is no follow-up investigation by the Anti-Corruption Agency on Ling Liong Sik and Sepakat Setia Perunding on the irregularities alleged by Central Vigilance Commission of India on JB-PTP rail link

That MMC personnel installed at the Gamuda office are inexperienced number crunchers rather than genuine specialised railway engineers

That the nature of Gamuda's railway track design has not been not revealed and even KTMB as the endorser, is still in the dark. (Reliable sources have said MMC-Gamuda does not have any knowledge and experience in designing the 50-year lifespan rail track to support stock moving at 120-140 km per hour.)

That the rail track is a strategic project to reduce travel time for container cargo from 50 hours to 12 hours (We cannot afford the repeat of massive derailment incidents. Thus, we cannot afford to let the MMC-Gamuda undertake the project.)

That the prime minister has not answered Kerian Kubang MP Husam Musa's query about the rationale for the award; validity of the Letter of Award; and if the award has gone through government procedures

Chin's article also fails to recognise the strategies applied by MMC-Gamuda and their hidden agenda:

The Variation Order (Statement of Need) will eventually make the government pay more (the Rawang-Ipoh sector escalated to RM26.4 million per km compared to the award price of RM14 million)

Acquisition of KTMB freight division by the MMC-Gamuda for RM1 billion should not be linked to the double-track contract (The government spent more RM2 billion on the track and infrastructure It is not fair to re-sell it to MMC-Gamuda regime.)

The cargo freight division is KTMB's hope towards becoming a profitable organisation after years of losses; now MMC-Gamuda want to take that away, which is unjust to the KTMB and taxpayers

Award procedures must be transparent and follow international open tender standards, while the design must be reliable and of proven safety to protect end-users and passengers.

The RM10 billion civil works sub-contract job offer to Ircon and CREC is very low and allowed 65 percent profit (RM5.6 billion) to MMC-Gamuda, which means it is paying only about RM4.4 billion to sub-contractors. Many have responded negatively to sub-contracting offers.

Malaysians do not need sweeteners or any well-planned public relations exercise from MMC-Gamuda that tell half truths. What is needed is the whole truth.

Pak Lah owes it to Malaysians to act by calling for an open tender rather than continuing with a mistake.

He is definitely aware of Surah Yusuf 12:101 : "O my Lord! Thou hast indeed bestowed on me some power, and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams and events - O thou creator of heavens and the earth! Thou art my protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Take thou my soul (at death) as one submitting to thy will (as a Muslim, and unite me with the righteous)."

Malaysians are waiting for Pak Lah to be united with the righteous by correcting mistakes of the former administration without fear or favour. He has the responsibility to prevent further exploitation of national wealth by the politically-linked crony conglomerate.

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