The 179km-long double-tracking railway project from Rawang to Ipoh costs a whopping RM26.4 million for every kilometre, said Deputy Transport Minister Ramli Ngah Talib today.

He said this included the cost of the tracks, drainage system, railway station, electrification, railway bridges, overhead bridges and communication systems.

Ramli was replying to a question from Husam Musa (PAS-Kubang Kerian) who wanted to know the cost of the project and the method of payment during the question session in the Dewan Rakyat.

However, Ramli remained mum on the costs involved in completing the 340km stretch between Ipoh and Padang Besar.

He told parliamentarians that work commenced on the Rawang-Ipoh project on July 17, 2000 and was expected to be completed by October 2005.

On the payment scheme, he said 30 percent of the contract amount was paid through a Japanese bank for international co-operation loan, 45 percent via a syndicated loan from Citibank and 25 percent from the government's development allocation.

In a supplementary question, Husam asked why the government had awarded the project to Gamuda Bhd-Malaysian Mining Corporation Bhd (MMC) despite previously having identified two foreign companies, Indian Railway Construction Co (Ircon) and China Railway Engineering Corp.

Ramli said the government has the right to appoint any company which it deems capable of handling the job, noting that the price offered by Gamuda-MMC was "reasonable".

He explained that the government had only issued a letter of intent to the two foreign companies, but that it did not contain a detailed plan of the project.

Letters to diplomats

In a related development, Husam later submitted letters relating to the matter to officials at the Indian and Chinese missions respectively in Kuala Lumpur.

"I was supposed to meet the deputy high commissioner but I was told that he had to attend a United Nations function," he said at the Indian High Commission

"We only wanted to express our deep concern over the issue which has left a lot of questions."

First Secretary V Mahalingam accepted the letter on behalf of Deputy High Commissioner Dr D M Vinod Kumar.

"We will have to wait for the High Commissioner (Veena Sikri) to return next week from New Delhi before we can respond to this issue," he said.

Mahalingam added that the letter would be despatched to the Indian central government after discussions are held with Veena.

At the Chinese embassy, Husam submitted his letter to an official.