‘Huge cost if tender reopened for LRT3’
government will have to bear a huge cost if it were to reopen a new tender to appoint the project delivery partner (PDP) for the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3), said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday.
Lim questioned why the previous government agreed to the project even after there was an increase in its cost from RM9 billion to RM31.65 billion.
“We can review the project so that we can reduce the cost. There is no other choice.
“If we stop the project, we need to pay a compensation of RM4.2 billion and we need the project,” he said during the question-andanswer session in the Dewan Rakyat.
Lim held this as one of the Pakatan Harapan government’s biggest success, in that the main aim was to continue with the project, but at a reduced cost.
He said this in response to an additional question by Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican (Barisan Nasional-Kepala Batas), who had asked him why the government kept the same PDP after the company failed to deliver and did not keep to the RM9 billion budget.
It was reported earlier that the cabinet had approved the continuation of the LRT3 project at a cost of RM16.63 billion.
Lim had said the cost of the LRT3 for the Klang Valley was reduced by 47 per cent from RM31.65 billion, thus saving Malaysians RM15.02 billion.
He said the 37km line aimed to alleviate traffic congestion along one of the most important and densely populated economic development corridors in the Klang Valley, from Klang to Petaling Jaya.
LRT3 is expected to serve an area with a population of twomillion people, with the capacity to transport 36,700 passengers per hour each way.