KUCHING, Feb 7: Petrajaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof says the recent statement of Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng who claimed that billions of ringgit was saved following cancellation of the project delivery partner (PDP) model was misleading.
In a statement today, Fadillah queried Lim’s latest claim that the government would save RM3.1 billion or 14 per cent by reducing the cost of the Sarawak Pan Borneo from RM21.9 billion to RM18.8 billion following the cancellation of an existing project with the PDP.
“The original Target Cost ceiling of the project was RM16.488 billion – not RM21.9 billion, with a targeted delivery date of end 2021.
“Until now, the delivery schedule was well on track while costs had been well-contained.
“In fact, the PDP had announced in March 2019 that it was able to achieve further cost savings of RM2 billion from the original Target Cost as a result of efficient design, cost and change control management.
“As such, the original Target Cost has further been revised downwards to RM15.13 billion currently – a figure that is well lower than Guan Eng’s stated RM21.9 billion original cost and his downward revised cost of RM18.8 billion,” said Fadillah.
He said the reason why the previous BN (Barisan Nasional) government had adopted the PDP model was due to its success in the MRT 1 project which was delivered below the original budget and within the targeted completion date.
It is also a result of the previous government learning from past experiences, Fadillah added.
“With the PDP model, the awarded company is incentivised to keep within the Target Cost. Cost overruns will lead to expensive penalties in the form of fee reduction.
“That is also the reason why the state of Penang had adopted a similar PDP model for their RM46 billion Penang Transport Masterplan project.
“As it is, DAP does not have a stellar track record of meeting targeted cost and targeted completion dates for their infrastructure projects in Penang,” said Fadillah.
He said following the cancellation of the PDP model and the changes announced by Lim yesterday, the Pan Borneo Sarawak project now runs a real risk of being delayed from its original targeted date of end 2021 and the risk of the project’s cost being much higher than the current RM15.13 billion targeted cost.
“When that happens, all Sarawakians should know who is responsible,” said Fadillah.
Lim told the media yesterday that the federal was expected to save about RM3.1bil which represent a savings of 14 per cent after taking over the Sarawak Pan Borneo project from a PDP.
He said with the PDP, the cost was expected to be RM21.9bil but through conventional means, the project would cost about RM18.8bil.
“This is a very important agreement because we are recording significant savings, and we intend to channel it back to Sarawak after the project is completed,” he was quoted saying. —DayakDaily
