KUALA LUMPUR – The Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) connecting Johor Bahru to Woodlands, Singapore, has ballooned by 29.9% to RM5.245 billion, the Auditor-General’s Report 2/24 issued today said.
The RM1.207 billion increase as of December 31, 2023, was due to an expanded work scope from light maintenance to heavy maintenance, among other added contracts.
These included a new contract for the Traffic Dispersal Scheme and a Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex construction.
The project’s original cost estimate was RM4.038 billion in January 2018. The planned 4km shuttle link is to take passengers from the Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru to Woodlands and is meant to transport 10,000 passengers per hour across the Malaysia-Singapore border.
The audit report also said extra costs were incurred due to additional infrastructure work on the facade and aesthetic structure of the shuttle link’s flyover, land costs, and construction for parking and additional piling at the CIQ Complex.
“The increase in project costs can affect the current financial position of the government compared to the benefits to stakeholders and the best value for the project,” the auditor-general said.
The audit report said the project developer and asset owner, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), had provided the auditor-general with a response to explain the increase in project costs.
MRT Corp said the increase was due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which had raised prices of raw materials.
The RTS Link project is financed using development expenditure funds through the Transport Minister and is under the 12th Malaysia Plan.
As of December 31, 2023, the ministry had channelled RM1.944 billion or 37.1% of the total RM5.245 billion project costs to Malaysia Rapid Transit System Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of MRT Corp, on a quarterly basis. – July 4, 2024