Works Minister S Samy Vellu has been described as "glib, facile and irresponsible" over the four-fold increase in repairing the Middle Ring Road Two (MRR2).

DAP senior leader Lim Kit Siang in a statement today said Samy Vellu has failed to grasp his fundamental responsibility to be accountable to the people.

Lim was responding to Samy Vellu's recent announcement that repairs on the road will cost RM70 million instead of RM18 million as initially stated.

The reason given for the increase was that the initial figure did not take into consideration the RM8 million paid to a foreign consultant. In addition, the number of pillars requiring repair doubled from 18 to 36.

It was reported that Samy Vellu had ticked off the opposition for challenging him to reveal the reason for the increased cost by retorting: "We have nothing to hide. You ask, I will answer."

Lim stressed that transparency and accountability are especially important in relation to the MRR2 because of previous scandals surrounding it.

"The MRR2 first had to close down within two years of completion because of cracks on the flyover, when it should have been able to meet international standards and last for 100 years," he said.

"Then the four-fold cost overrun in its repair bill is proof that the government has learnt nothing about mechanisms to end shoddy work, delays in project completion and cost over-runs."

On Aug 9, 2004, the MRR2 had to be closed after cracks were discovered. The cabinet appointed British consultants the Halcrow Group to investigate the cracks and to come up with solutions.

The consultants submitted their findings on Sept 29, 2004 and noted that a design flaw and the improper anchorage of the crossbeams on the concrete columns were the cause.

This Halcrow report was supposed to be the 'decider', since the foreign consultants employed by the contractor and the Public Works Department (PWD) had both given a different verdict over the safety of the flyover.

Last December, the British consultants submitted a draft of the remedial measures for repairs to the PWD.

More questions

Lim pointed out that nothing had been done repair the MRR2 for 14 months from December 2004 to February 2006.

"An intense turf war between the PWD and Samy Vellu (was seen), which finally required the personal intervention of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi."

He said this was done at a special Friday meeting on Feb 3, 2006 attended by Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamad Yakcob and Chief Secretary Samsudin Osman among others.

After the meeting, Samy Vellu announced that the repairs would be supervised by Halcrow, maintaining that the costs would be RM18 million.

However, the cabinet upheld PWD's recommendations two weeks later and awarded the repair work to German consulting firm Leonhardt Andra and Partners at a cost of RM40 million.

Lim raised several questions including why the RM8 million foreign consultant's fee had been excluded in the first instance.

"How did this exclusion justify the four-fold jump of the repair bill from RM18 million to RM70 million?" he asked.

He maintained that Samy Vellu must give Malaysians a detailed breakdown of the RM70 million bill and explain why taxpayers are paying this.

"Why have the government and 26 million taxpayers been landed with the RM70 million repair bill for MRR2 when it should be fully borne by the negligent MRR2 contractor, Bumi Highway?" he asked.