KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should make public all feasibility reports on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) to silence criticism on the RM55 billion project, Opposition lawmaker Tony Pua said today.

The DAP MP said Liow’s explanation yesterday only raised more doubts, as he questioned an initial study in 2009 by HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd that priced the project at RM29 billion, which also accounted for the extended rail line from 545km to 620km.

"Is the Transport Minister telling us HSS consultants used the 2009-2010 exchange rates to calculate the cost of the project, even though they finalised the report only in December 2015 when the exchange rate was already RM4 to the [US] dollar by then?

"Since the comprehensive HSS report had to take six years to complete and was finalised only in December 2015, how did the government decide to suddenly alter the alignment within six months or so?  

"Was a new engineering consultant actually appointed to carry out a new study which could be completed in such a time-frame?" the Petaling Jaya Utara MP asked in a statement.

If Liow could order the feasibility reports and other studies on the project to be released soon, Pua said Pakatan Harapan critics would definitely cease comments on the matter.

Otherwise, he said, Liow must not blame his camp for trying to gain political mileage.

"If he really has nothing to hide, Datuk Seri Liow should immediately order that both the HSS feasibility study and the subsequent study which changed the scope of the HSS study be released to the public," he said.

Without giving a date, Liow yesterday said the feasibility study on the ECRL will be released once it is finalised.

Liow was reported as saying that the alignment of the rail link was increased from 545km in the original study to 620km, to link Kuantan Port and Port Klang, which would require 50km of tunnelling work through the Titiwangsa mountain range which divides the west coast of the peninsula from the east.

The transport minister also said the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), which is headed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, would provide all the details on the ECRL and gave an assurance that the government is transparent in all public projects.

The federal Opposition pact has repeatedly questioned the government over the pricey cost of the ECRL, noting that the local HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd’s report estimated the project to cost RM53.2 million per km compared to China-owned China Communications Construction Company which was awarded the contract at a cost of RM91.7 million per km.

HSS Integrated is a subsidiary of HSS Engineers Bhd, a Bursa Malaysia-listed company that has been involved in several major engineering projects locally such as the electrified double-tracking from Ipoh to Padang Besar, the Sungai-Buloh to Kajang MRT I Line, the Ampang Line LRT extension project and the KLIA Express Rail Link.

The study by HSS was commissioned by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council in December 2009, for a proposed 545km route from Kuala Lumpur to Tumpat, passing through Mentakab, Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Baru.