Azmin’s allegation of Singapore’s corruption in HSR project
Former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan has rapped Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali over the latter’s claim that there had been “corrupt elements” involved in the RM120 billion Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
“The HSR project is an open international tender, supervised by both Malaysian and Singaporean authorities. This allegation of corruption is very serious. Azmin should report to MACC immediately.
“Stop talking nonsense. If there are corrupt elements, just expose them. Don’t play with words to hide your government’s incompetencies,” Rahman tweeted earlier today.
Azmin claimed last night that the price of the HSR project was inflated due to “many corrupt elements.”
The minister said this during the DAP’s grand finale ceramah in Balakong, when speaking on Singapore’s agreement to defer to project to the year 2020.
‘No cronies’
Meanwhile, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak today stressed that none of the companies involved In the Malaysian side of the HSR project were his “cronies”.
Taking to Facebook, Najib denied the claim that he was unhappy over the deferment of the railway linking Malaysia and Singapore as his ‘cronies’ were involved – Gamuda Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), TH Properties Sdn Bhd and YTL Corporation Bhd.
“I too am baffled how these four companies are said to be my ‘cronies’.”
“The largest shareholder for Gamuda is the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), aside from Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) and Amanah Saham Wawasan (ASW).
“EPF is also the largest shareholder for MRCB, while TH Properties is owned by Tabung Haji. YTL is not a known ‘crony’ or proxy of mine, but is linked to another individual,” he stated.
It was earlier announced that Malaysia would have to pay about RM45.1 million to defer the HSR until May 31, 2020, following long-awaited negotiations with the Singaporean government.
The payment has to be made by the end of January 2019.
The project was said to cost RM72 billion when it was mooted during the Najib administration in 2010, but the Pakatan Harapan-led government reportedly claimed that the project cost was actually RM120 billion, including interest.
Rahman had previously criticised the deferment, saying that the delay would increase the overall cost of the project due to the inflation of construction costs.
