Ong Tee Keat

In a statement to the media today, the ministry said today allegations that the decision had been made without the agreement of KTM Berhad's board of directors was not true.

"At the last meeting to discuss the purchase of diesel multiple units (DMU), the board had left it to the ministry to make a decision on purchase of the units," the statement said.

The decision to purchase the DMUs was made in view of the shortage of electric multiple unit (EMU) stock to accommodate the increasing passenger volume of 95,000 daily and to boost usage of public transportation as per the government's aim, it said.

Among the accusations against the ministry and minister Ong Tee Keat was that the four DMU sets were purchased in March this year for RM30 million – allegedly higher than the actual cost.

Referring to the Railway International Gazette, the allegations by certain quarters said Costa Rica had purchased a set of four DMUs with modifications for a total of two million euros (RM10 million).

The ministry in its statement said this report was inaccurate and released a five-page explanation on its purchase of the DMUs.

"Efforts were made to source for new EMUs but the delivery of these units would take too long - up to two to three years while maintenance works on existing EMUs would take up to a year," the ministry said, adding that efforts were made to obtain used EMUs but none were available in the market.

Spain then offered to offered to supply used DMUs to KTMB and in view of the desperate need, a detailed technical study was carried out before the decision to purchase the 20-year-old reconditioned DMUs was made.

It was estimated that the DMUs have a remaining lifespan of between 15 and 20 years.

The ministry also denied that the cost of the DMUs at 1.4 million euros (RM7 million) per set was higher that the Euros2 million (RM10 million) paid by Costa Rica, and said the maintenance cost of the DMUs is similar to the cost of maintaining the present diesel engines.

The DMUs were an alternative to the propulsion technology other than the EMUs which was needed for services with frequent stops like the KTM Komuter and ulike the EMUs, can even be used on non-electric lines.