Delay of monorail project cost govt almost RM800mil

PUTRAJAYA: The government has suffered wastage of more than RM800mil in the management of the federal administrative capital development, hugely due to postponement of the monorail project.

According to the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2, the postponement of the project, which was supposed to be the backbone of Putrajaya’s transportation system, has cost the government RM797.18mil.

Further, the non-usage of a bus depot at Precinct 14 was also seen as wastage as it had cost RM12.21mil to build.

Another wastage mentioned in the report is the RM1.36mil park & ride infrastructure, which wasn’t used according to its intended purpose.

The report stated that management of Putrajaya’s development was satisfactory in terms of creating a centralised federal administrative capital and the implementation of the “garden city” concept.

“However, due to change in government policies, development that had been planned was not fully implemented.

“There are also weaknesses in the implementation of an integrated transport system for Putrajaya as well as housing facilities, education and health. Further, no parties or authorities had done a total evaluation to determine if Putrajaya development objectives were met,” said the report.

Five components are still in development phase – transport system; population target of 350,000 residents by 2025; 80,312 units of houses, commercial as well as facilities for the community.

The report also noted that five development components have reached 80% completion, including land usage, office buildings, utilities and infrastructure, open spaces and green areas as well as smart communications and security facilities.

It said an audit was done on the management of Putrajaya development as it hadn’t been audited before.

To address the weaknesses, the report recommended that the Federal Territories Ministry and Putrajaya Corporation review the development plan to be in line with any changes to the development concept of Putrajaya, so that suitable infrastructure can be provided.

“The relevant ministries and authorities should determine the way forward for the use of infrastructure that has already been developed to benefit the people and to avoid wastage,” it said.