The DAP has blasted the appointment of check engineer HSSI-SNC, a consortium led by HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd (HSSI) for a conflict of interest,as it had also been engaged by MMC-Gamuda JV for its other projects.

"What is perhaps of greatest concern to Malaysian tax-payers is the fact that while an independent check engineer (ICE) should not have an existing relationship with the parties managing the project, to ensure independence, HSSI has been the contracting engineers for Gamuda's double-tracking projects," said PJ Utara MP Tony Pua in a statement today.

NONE The ICE's role is to ensure that the project is being implemented according to plans and specifications.

Pua ( left ) also noted the "cloak and dagger" appointment of HSSI, and questioned the fees that HSSI is suspected to be receiving, that Pua says is higher than market rate.

"The speculated two percent consultancy fee on the cost of the entire project (the latter which has yet to be finalised) is substantially above market rates, understood to be in the region of 0.8 percent.

"Based on the above, assuming a RM50 billion project cost, the HSSI consortium will pocket RM1 billion in fees, RM600 million more than the estimated market rate of RM400 million.

"It also appears that while the Gamuda-MMC joint-venture is meant only to be a project delivery partner (PDP) and all projects are to be awarded by (Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd, SPNB), the PDP gets to dictate who gets the contracts for the project, signalling the commencement of crony contract awards for the MRT project," said Pua.

Earlier, government-owned SPNB in charge of the MRT project had denied a April 15 news portal report that they had appointed the ICE.

Pua pointed out that SPNB group director for project development Zulkifli Yusoff in today's news report contradicted this by admitting that an engineering consortium led by HSSI had been appointed the ICE as early as February.

'Whither transparency, Najib?'

Pua also blasted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the "opaque and obtuse management" of the MRT project that contradicted the PM's own calls for greater transparency in government dealings.

NONE Najib had, in a written parliamentary reply to Pua's oral question on Gamuda's contract, admitted that the PDP had been awarded the contract without a fixed price, stating however that the PDP would bear all the cost overruns .

"It is an oxymoron for Najib to argue that the PDP will bear all cost-overruns when its own project contract value has yet to be finalised, and may be rising as we speak, as the cost of the MRT project has already ballooned from a budgeted RM36 billion to now, an estimated RM53 billion," said Pua.

The MRT project, Pua says is "by far the country's largest ever infrastructure project ", has been riddled with controversy.

In March, Pua revealed that consultancy firm McKinsey & Co that had been part of the Pemandu project that mooted the MRT, was subsequently asked to conduct a Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) study on the value management of such a project.

"Will McKinsey do a fair analysis of the cost benefits of the MRT system, when it is part of the Pemandu project that, in the first place, proposed the MRT system?" Pua had asked at the time, questioning the independence of the company in providing an unbiased report on the project.

azlan