The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) must probe into the estimated RM1.8 billion acquisition of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad's (KTMB) new Electric Multiple Units (EMU), urged PAS parliamentarian Dzulkefly Ahmad.

a kugan detention death funeral ummc to puchong 280109 kuala selangor mp dr dzulkefly ahmad The Transport Ministry and the national railways operator had recently signed an agreement to buy 38 sets of six-car trains for an estimated RM48 million each from Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd.

However, the Kuala Selangor MP alleged that the cost for one unit was much higher even after direct negotiations.

"I would like to stress that the people want to know why, after direct negotiations, Zhuzhou has offered a very high price, roughly RM48 million for each of the six-carriage EMUs, which would total RM1.8 billion for the 38 units," said Dzulkefly ( left ).

Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby today, Dzulkefly also raised former transport minister Ong Tee Keat's blog posting on July 1, pointing out that the former was not aware of the details of procurement of the EMUs.

NONE In his posting, Ong ( right ) justified that the difference in price between the old and new deals was simply due to the fact that the deals were for different train sets.

The Pandan BN MP and former MCA president gave his explanation on the improvements in three points:

  • The 2008 KTM tender of eight sets of three-car EMU trains was cancelled and not awarded, in light of new demands and needs highlighted by the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) for Urban Public Transportation that surpassed those contained in the tender;
  • The quantity under the procurement is for 38 sets of six-car trains. Any price comparison must always be based on the technical specifications or run the risk of comparing apples with oranges; and
  • The direct negotiation for the procurement was not directed and endorsed by the Transport Ministry but by the Finance Ministry.

"For his (Ong's) information all three points were refuted, and in fact in my article published in Harakah, I elaborated on why the government should not issue the Letter of Award (LOA) and in fact should blacklist railway manufacturer Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd of China," said Dzulkefly.

NONE He said that the procurement must be done based on the technical specifications or else the government would run the risk of "comparing apples with oranges".

"I have come to know that the price of the 38 EMUs does not include maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) packages. The government should now negotiate and conclude on the price of the EMU and MRO simultaneously during such procurements," he said.

He advised that the government should learn from their past mistakes, referring to the "exorbitant" maintenance cost charged by General Electric (GE) to upkeep the 20 GE Blue Tiger Locomotives as the agreements did not include MRO packages.

"The direct negotiation for the procurement was not directed and endorsed by the Transport Ministry, but by the Finance Ministry. Who arm-twisted the MOT to get the negotiations?

"PAC must immediately investigate the claims... should we want to avoid further leakages and the rakyat again be severely shortchanged," he said.