RM100mil KLIA2 rail track a ‘gravy train’

comments     Yoursay     Published     Updated

YOURSAY ‘The cost  is suspiciously high and people are right to ask for accountability.’                                             

 

Hisham zips lip on why RM100mil spent on rail link

Slumdog: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein refused to respond to queries by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on why taxpayers ended up footing the hefty bill for the KLIA2 rail link.

 

Which country in the world would spend the equivalent of RM100 million on a 1km to 2.2km rail line?

 

This is democracy Malaysian-style where a minister can refuse to answer a question raised by the parliamentary committee.

 

In a true democracy, the minister will have to resign or be hauled up by the Privileges Committee or at least be severely admonished by Parliament. His position will be untenable.

 

In Malaysia, where there is no ministerial accountability, integrity or honesty, nothing happens. It is just another day in Umno land and life goes on.   

           

SteveOh: This gives new meaning to ‘gravy train’. You don't have to pay anything for the public transport by bus or rail-link at Changi Airport between terminals. 

 

In Perth, you don't pay for the Red Cat and Blue Cat bus services that run through different circuits within the CBD (central business district). 

 

Singapore's Changi Airport offers transit passengers free bus tours in the city. It means you don't always have to pay for public transport.

 

In many countries, public transport for seniors is free. It is obvious the RM2 is a form of toll. The cost of the link is suspiciously high and people are right in asking for accountability.

 

Casey: With due respect to Hishammuddin, no one questions the need for good infrastructure. But when infrastructure projects were and are dished out to cronies at inflated price, it becomes an issue of concern.

 

Why? The enrichments of cronies, on the basis of quid pro quo, create a situation for ‘rent seeking’ at the perils of reduced economic efficiency because national resources are poorly or misallocated.

 

These in turn would reduce national wealth creation, cause lost of government revenue, increase income inequality, and result in national decline. It is a self-feeding but vicious cycle.

 

The callous privatisations initiated by former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad had created widespread rent-seeking that had permeated through every level of national economy, whether they involved the provision of utilities like electricity and water, transportation, and the requirement for APs (approved permits) from cars to rice and sugars.

 

Excessive profits were channeled to the hands of a few while the costs are distributed and borne by the nation.

 

The negative effects: cost-pushed inflation and reduced disposable incomes that inhibit domestic consumption, and hence resulting in negative multiplier effect with increased in government spending notwithstanding.

 

To understand this is simple enough. There is only that much domestically produced goods and services that the super rich, which is relatively small in number, can reasonably consume.

 

Anonymous_3f4b: Yes, another crony project. This one to the Yeoh Tiong Lay group of companies. Passengers have to pay for a ride built at government expense for a private company.

 

The cost of airport tax also include the reimbursement for the construction of the rail link to the airports, benefitting that crony company. Not to mention, the amount of grease monies paid out to the relevant parties.

 

Swipenter: This is how arrogant our ministers, government officials and top civil servants behave in front of the local press.

 

When the international press descended on Bolehland in wake of MH370, their arrogance dissipated because they know they can't behave in their usual manner and they know they can't bully the international press like they do with the local press.

 

Since it is public transport, the public has the right to know why it cost so much because eventually the public has to pay for it with their money and from their taxes paid to the government.

 

Ipohcrite: Hishammuddin's curt dismissal of queries over the rail link between KLIA and KLIA2 is symptomatic of the political DNA of Umno ministers.

 

They do not have to be held accountable for the way they spend the taxpayers' money. So there.

 

Anonymous_1398315636: Remember a few years back Petronas blew RM100 million of our good money to build the pedestrian walkway joining KLCC and Jalan Bukit Bintang? It was less than 700 meters long. Who pocketed the money?

 

Democracy: Hishammuddin seems to like to weave his way out by saying past is past let's forget about it and look into the future. He said this in MH370 and now KLIA2.

 

I hope PM Najib Razak sends him back for some history lessons and study the importance of history, like what his grandfather Onn Hussein’s visions were.

 

Hishammuddin, history learnt and corrected is what makes a country great.

 

Where is Justice: Yes, past is past, but the negative impact on the future generation cannot be overlooked.

 

This government has taken the rakyat on rides for way, way too many times and they know the public will scream their heart out and complain for a while and the voice will eventually go silent as time goes by.

 

One can blame the rakyat for not taking a harder approach on these scumbags. The same trend will happen again in other mega projects.

 

These bigots will fill their pockets with tainted money, walk with their head held high and still pray five times a day while the rakyat pay the bills, tolls, taxes and others.

 

Vocal Malaysian: Why is it that every time there are cost over-run issues (KLIA2 construction, MAS losing money over dubious contracts, privatisation of toll roads, increased in hospital charges), Khazanah is always involved and implicated?

           

Lim Chong Leong: Construction cost overruns by double from RM2 billion to RM4 billion, only in Malaysia. Why? Because it is public transport, says Hisham. What kind of answer is that?

 

Is it because it is public transport that you can inflate the costs because it is public monies paid to cronies? Why is it that PAC reports only 1km of tracks but Hisham says it is 2.2km?

 

Drngsc: A picture speaks a thousand words. Look at Francis Yeoh in the photograph (above). He is smiling all the way to the bank.


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