The completion of the Shah Alam Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) has become more than a celebration of improved public transport - it has also reignited a political debate over who deserves credit for the project and whether the cost-rationalisation undertaken by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was justified.
DAP secretary-general and Transport Minister Anthony Loke has announced that he will seek an audience with the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, following the ruler's public criticism of former finance minister Lim Guan Eng and former Damansara MP Tony Pua over their handling of the LRT3 project during the PH administration.
Speaking after a Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Bakri, Loke said DAP accepted the Sultan's reprimand with humility but hoped to provide further clarification regarding the decisions made in 2018.
According to Loke, the issue was never about cancelling the LRT3 project but about ensuring it could be completed more efficiently by rationalising its costs.
"We accept the reprimand, but I hope to explain that the objective was never to stop the project. It was to reduce unnecessary costs while ensuring the project continued," he said.
The controversy erupted after Sultan Sharafuddin, during the official opening of the 37.8-kilometre rail line connecting Bandar Utama to Johan Setia, remarked that the project had been delayed following the change of government in 2018 before facing further setbacks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sultan expressed disappointment that Lim Guan Eng, then Finance Minister, together with his political secretary Tony Pua, had viewed the project merely as a "mega project" and subsequently downsized station sizes, reduced the number of train sets and cancelled five planned stations as part of cost-cutting measures.
His Royal Highness also credited former Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak for approving the rail project after receiving a request from the Selangor Palace and praised Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim for ensuring the project was completed while reinstating the five previously removed stations.
However, Lim and Pua strongly rejected suggestions that the PH administration had stalled or suspended the project.
In a joint statement, the two leaders insisted that construction never stopped throughout PH's tenure from 2018 until early 2020.
Instead, they argued that their administration inherited a project whose estimated cost had ballooned dramatically.
According to them, although the Barisan Nasional government had initially approved RM9 billion for the project in 2015, by March 2018 contracts worth RM15.2 billion had already been awarded. Once land acquisition, consultancy fees, financing costs and Project Delivery Partner (PDP) charges were included, Prasarana sought an expanded budget amounting to RM31.65 billion together with an additional RM22 billion government guarantee.
Lim and Pua said PH appointed independent engineering consultants to review the project when it was only about nine per cent complete. The review resulted in a Cabinet-approved reduction of the total project cost from RM31.65 billion to RM16.63 billion - a saving of RM15.02 billion through various rationalisation measures, including reducing the number of train sets, postponing five stations with initially low projected ridership and replacing the PDP model with a fixed-price contract.
Those five deferred stations were later reinstated under a second-phase contract costing RM5.3 billion, bringing the final project cost to RM21.93 billion.
Even with the reinstatement, Lim and Pua maintained that taxpayers still benefited from savings of RM9.72 billion compared to the earlier projected cost of RM31.65 billion.
They also argued that abolishing the PDP model eliminated incentives for contractors to inflate project costs and would save the government up to RM10 billion in financing expenses over the next two to three decades.
Importantly, they stressed that the rationalisation did not compromise passenger capacity or the functionality of the LRT3 system. The pair concluded by thanking Sultan Sharafuddin for highlighting the significance of the rail line, agreeing that the completed LRT3 would ease traffic congestion, shorten commuting times and contribute to Selangor's economic growth.
The latest exchange illustrates how major infrastructure projects often span multiple administrations, with each government contributing at different stages - from initial approval and planning to cost management, restoration of project scope and final completion.
While differing narratives continue over the project's management, all sides appear to agree on one outcome: the LRT3 line is now operational and is expected to provide long-term benefits for commuters travelling between Klang, Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur. The political debate, however, over credit, accountability and fiscal management is unlikely to end anytime soon.
By: Kpost
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