KUALA LUMPUR, 27 March 2018:
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project needs to meet the target of 250,000 passengers each day to break even, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Othman Aziz.
However, he said the MRT was a long-term project and not one which would generate a return of investment in a short period of time.
“So far, we are recording between 130,000 and 140,000 passengers a day. We expect to achieve our break-even point when the MRT, as well as its related housing and commercial projects are completed.
“Right now, there are six stations which have yet to be fully completed and utilised, namely the Kwasa Damansara, Kwasa Sentral, Kampung Selamat, Sungai Buloh, TRX and Merdeka 118 stations,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Othman said this in reply to Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin) who wanted to know the source of income of the MRT to cover the overall cost of the project.
He said the overall cost of the three lines of the MRT project was about RM100 billion and that the project was financed by sukuk loans of between seven to 30 years at an interest rate of between 3.62% and 5.51%.
– Bernama