MMC-Gamuda, the project delivery partner (PDP) for the MRT lines, and not the public, should bear the costs of any cost overruns said a DAP representative.

Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran cited a news report from 2012 in which the joint venture firm said it would bear any overruns exceeding 15 percent.

"We were assured that anything beyond (15 percent), the PDP would not be entitled to their six percent fee (for the entire MRT project) and would have to bear the cost overruns.

"The government needs to come clean on the fees paid to the PDP, and well as the penalties imposed on the PDP immediately," Rajiv said in a statement last night.

On Dec 29, MMC-Gamuda said the total cost for the three MRT lines will likely be higher than the RM40 billion estimated in 2010, based on 2009 prices.

This is because the estimation did not include the cost of land acquisition and electric trains, and was based on all three lines being built simultaneously.

The PDP also said that the length of the MRT 1 and 2 lines are also longer now, adding to construction costs.

MMC-Gamuda however, said phase one of the MRT 1 line had been completed on time and within budget.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said MRT 1 had cost RM21 billion, RM2 billion less than the original estimate.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli meanwhile claimed that the cost to build the MRT is more expensive than similar rail projects in Seoul and Barcelona, while the BN strategic communications team said it was cheaper.

Rafizi claimed that the total cost for the MRT projects will exceed RM100 billion, as the funding for both the MRT 1 and MRT 2 project was more than RM50 billion.