KUALA LUMPUR, October 8- The recent reduction in the petrol and diesel subsidy will not affect the cost of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line project, says its developer MRT Corp Sdn Bhd.
Director for Strategic Communications and Public Relations Amir Mahmood Razak said the project cost was locked in from the tender phase, and included any contingency expenditure.
“I am sure the contractors have locked in their costs when making their bids, and they have taken into consideration oil price movements.”Companies with good planning will have looked into the costs of oil and building materials over the next five years for each of their projects,” he told the media on a visit to the MRT Elevated Package V1 site in Sungai Buloh near here Wednesday.
Amir said he expects the rising fuel cost would make public transport more attractive to the people.”The MRT is one of Malaysia’s public transport restructuring projects, and we are confident that with a more up-to-date public transport system, the people would see public transport as a viable alternative,” he said.
Amir said Malaysians generally regard petrol as a necessity and not as a commodity whose price fluctuates and affects the cost of a project.He also expressed hope that the government would announce tax incentives to encourage public transport use in the Budget 2015 to be tabled on Friday.
– BERNAMA
