KUALA LUMPUR: Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has dismissed claims by PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli that the first phase of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line had cost RM21 billion to build.
In a statement today, MRT Corp clarified that the RM21 billion figure was the cost for the entire stretch of the 51km SBK Line, which will be operational by July next year.
“Rafizi’s statement is totally incorrect. The RM21 billion figure that was mentioned in the speech by the prime minister was the cost for the both Phase One and Phase Two of the 51km SBK Line,” MRT Corp said in the statement.
In his statement entitled “Rafizi: PM actually confirmed my fears on MRT project costs”, Rafizi had stated that the RM21 billion cost mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was only for the first phase of the SBK Line.
MRT Corp said the total cost was calculated based on the completion of the procurement process and the adoption of a stringent mechanism to control variation orders and claims.
The first phase comprises the 21km elevated section of the SBK Line from Sungai Buloh to the Semantan Portal.
The second phase includes the 9.5km underground section from the Semantan Portal to the Maluri Portal, and the 20.5km southern elevated section from the Maluri Portal to Kajang.
The second phase of the MRT SBK Line is slated to start operation in July next year. Once in full operation, the entire 51km SBK line from Sungai Buloh to Kajang would take an hour from end to end.