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PETALING JAYA: MCA president Wee Ka Siong has hit back at transport minister Loke Siew Fook for questioning the claim about the cost of the proposed high-speed rail project expected to go up from RM70 billion to RM120 billion.

Yesterday, Loke said he did not know where the RM120 billion figure quoted by Wee came from.

Wee, a former transport minister, said he did not conjure up the figure from his imagination.

He cited a Straits Times report dated Feb 19, which predicted that the cost of the project would increase to at least RM100 billion.

He also cited another report, by the New Straits Times on Feb 22, which quoted transport expert Rosli Khan as saying that the project’s cost was expected to rise to RM120 billion.

“If these reports are false – and it has been over six months (since they were published) – why hasn’t Loke corrected them?

"Why does he react so strongly whenever I speak up about it?" Wee said in a Facebook post.

Loke previously said that Wee was entitled to his own opinion, but the future of the HSR project would be decided by the Cabinet.

Loke also said there is interest from the private sector on the HSR project and they have given their proposals.

The transport ministry is currently evaluating the proposals and preparing a Cabinet paper on the matter, he said.

The government had previously said it was open to reviving the multibillion-ringgit project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore if it could find private investors.

A decision is expected by the end of the fourth quarter.

On Thursday, Wee had cited media reports as saying the estimated cost of the project had ballooned from RM70 billion to RM120 billion, and that the increased cost made it impractical for the private sector to fund it without government support.

As such, he proposed that the project be aligned with the RM140 billion Bandar Malaysia project to maximise benefits and feasibility.

The planned 350km line would shorten travelling time from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to 90 minutes, compared to the four-hour car journey at present.