De facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz today vowed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would leave no stone unturned in probing the Rawang-Ipoh double-tracking and electrification project.

"We would pursue (the investigation)... no question about it," he told reporters in the Parliament lobby.

The minister was commenting on the remarks made by former transport minister Chan Kong Choy when grilled by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

double tracking and chan kong choy Chan, who was hauled up in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, had turned the spotlight on the railway project instead, saying that it was "three times the size" of PKFZ.

The former minister estimated that "almost RM12 to 13 billion" was swallowed up just for the northern part of the project while the southern track cost another RM4 billion.

Nazri said the anti-corruption watchdog would sniff out if there were any elements of mismanagement with regards to the project.

He added that there were disputes concerning the minutes of the PAC meeting, where Chan was quoted as commenting on the double-tracking project.

The PAC also plans to initiate its own investigation into the matter.

Opposition wants PAC to grill CJ Zaki

zaki azmi chief justice installation event 291008 03 Meanwhile, the opposition has urged the PAC to call chief justice Zaki Azmi ( left ) as a witness, since he was both chairperson and biggest shareholder in Emrail Sdn Bhd, one of the contractors involved in the project.

Emrail was mentioned in the 2009 auditor-general's report as being the most inefficient of the four subcontractors involved in the project.

The company had only completed 56.9 percent of the 179 km double tracking and electrification project when the deadline for its completion expired on Dec 10, 2003.

According to the audit report, the delay had escalated the cost of the project by another RM1.43 billion.

Auditor-General Ambrin Buang said that due to a contractual agreement between the government and DRB-Hicom (one of the subcontractors involved), the maximum liability that could be claimed from the contractor was only RM257.99 million.

Therefore, the government would have to absorb part of the RM1.14 billion loss brought about by delays in implementation and not keeping to the standards imposed on the infrastructural development.