The cost of the National Monument park project has come under fire from Bandar Tun Razak MP Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who said it should not cost the budgeted RM650 million as announced.

While the value of the project from a public perspective is positive, said Khalid, the main objection to the project announced last weekend is with the cost.

He said in order to get some perspective on the costing, he had consulted an old colleague Ali Ahmad, who has 30 years experience in starting up and managing Guthrie's oil palm plantations.

"According to the highest estimates based on his experience, the cost of clearing and levelling the land, planting oil palm and taking care of the crop from seedlings till harvest is approximately RM21 million per 1,000 hectares, or just RM21,000 per hectare," he said.

With a little extrapolation, said the former Selangor menteri besar and former Guthrie chief executive officer, the cost of setting up the park should not be that much.

"What more since the cost of the land is virtually non-existent, as it is given free by the federal government," wrote Khalid on his Facebook

"It is clear the cost of the project expected to swallow RM650 million is too high, and is unreasonable even after considering the cost of infrastructure and buildings planned.

"So it is not surprising if many are baffled with the methodology used by Khazanah Nasional Berhad that justifies such a high cost."

'Consult experts'

Khalid said people who are knowledgeable and professional should therefore be roped in to advise those undertaking the project and to discuss with stakeholders before it proceeds.

"Our bitter experience and black marks arising from leakages, wastage and abuse of public funds ought to serve as a lesson.

"Past mistakes should not be allowed to recur if we seriously want to improve the nation's prosperity and welfare."

The project launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has drawn fierce criticism over the cost and the necessity of the project when the country is facing economic hardship.

Khazanah has set up a series of public consultations to allow the public to give its feedback on the thorny project.