PETALING JAYA: MRT Corp has hit out at opposition Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli for labelling the mammoth railway project as a “bad project”.

In a statement yesterday, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT) said that the Pandan MP had not provided any explanation to back his claims.

It said it was disappointed that Rafizi attempted to politicise a project that was clearly benefiting the public.

“One of the assertions made with respect to MRT has been around the RM40bil which has been described as the ‘original budget’ for the project.

“We wish to make clear that this figure was derived from a conceptualised proposal back in 2010.

“Therefore it is no longer relevant to be used for comparison with the current project that has been materialised,” said MRT.

MRT said its initial proposal submitted to Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) was changed significantly after the Government reviewed and carried out a study on it. It also said that the project was not a privatised project but wholly owned and funded by the Government through MRT.

MRT explained that all tenders for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) and the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) lines were awarded through an open tender system.

“For the proposed MRT3 line, also known as the Circle Line, MRT Corp has always stated that the feasibility study for the line was currently being carried out.

“The results are expected to be known in the first quarter of 2017.

“In view of this, it would not have been possible for MRT to give a cost estimate for line 3. Any figure reported would be purely speculative. As such any assertion that MRT Corp had announced a figure for the cost of MRT line 3 is absolutely erroneous,” said the statement.

Since the launch of the SBK line, Rafizi has hit out at the project, saying that it would add to our national debts.-thestar