KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — A DAP federal lawmaker claimed today that the Cabinet and the Transport Ministry were being bypassed in decisions on the multibillion ringgit Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) link project, and said such an “institutional flaw” should be rectified.

In a statement, Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong pointed out that Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is not a member of the Economic Council, which he said calls the shots on the project.

“The HSR project reveals one of the most ridiculous aspects of the governing structure of the Najib government that the transport minister and ministry is not involved and not even consulted on the planning of the costliest transport facility,” he said.

Liew cited Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar’s March 14 parliamentary reply, where the latter had said a feasibility study for the HSR project was presented to the Economic Council in June 2013 and that the council had subsequently directed the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to implement the project’s next phase.

“My suspicion that the Cabinet was not involved in the discussion was confirmed by Wahid’s reply that it was the Economic Council which made the decision,” the DAP political education director claimed.

“The usurpation of Cabinet by the Economic Council and the irrelevance of the Transport Minister/ Ministry on the question of HSR is unacceptable and should be corrected,” he added, also urging Liow to ensure that the transport ministry is the central agency handling the HSR project.

In the same statement, Liew also listed down the names of those in the Economic Council as of December 2015.

He noted that the 12-man team chaired by the prime minister also includes as members the deputy prime minister, Wahid, the minister of international trade and industry, finance minister II, the chief secretary to the government of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia governor and the Treasury secretary-general.

Others on the list are the Economic Planning Unit’s director-general, Pemandu’s CEO, the head of the Economic Council secretariat and Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon.

Liew said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had in 2010 added the then MCA president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek to the council after the DAP MP questioned the lack of representation from MCA, MIC, Gerakan, and those from Barisan Nasional parties in Sabah and Sarawak.

But he highlighted that Liow, who is the current MCA president, is not part of the council.

“Liow Tiong Lai apparently didn’t get the same treatment as Dr Chua,” he said.

The HSR is expected to cut travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes.