‘UiTM campuses cost more under private initiative’

The construction of UiTM campuses which used to cost RM400mil each if built by the Public Work Department now cost RM1.3bil under the private sector initiative, parliament was told today.

KUALA LUMPUR: The cost of building Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campuses has become much higher under the private sector initiative (PFI), said PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli today.

He said one UiTM campus used to cost RM400mil when it was built by the Public Work Department, but now undertaken by the private sector would cost RM1.3bil.

Taking the UiTM Tapah campus as example, he said the university would have to pay RM57mil annually to a private firm owned by Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman for 23 years to build and maintain the campus.

He said Tapah was only one of the six UiTM campuses which would be built using the PFI model.

The others are in Pasir Gudang, Johor; Jasin, Malacca; Seremban 3, Negri Sembilan; Kota Samarahan, Sarawak and Puncak Alam, Selangor.

“Should all the six campuses follow the Tapah model, then the university authorities will have to pay RM342mil annually as rental to the building owners.

“It will accumulate to RM7.8bil over 23 years,” he told the Dewan Rakyat when debating the supplementary budget motion.

He said the PFI scheme might cause the varsity authorities to raise tuition fees, which in turn impacted on bumiputera students.

He added that the government should improve its method of building campuses.

“The House will continue to be a rubber-stamp avenue for the government to obtain supplementary budgets should the issue be left unattended,” he said.