Loke denies ECRL route changes to bribe Rantau voters

Timothy Achariam Timothy Achariam Updated 7 years ago · Published on 13 Apr 2019 7:00AM · 0 Comments

Transport Minister Anthony Loke says discussions over the ECRL project have been ongoing since last year and have nothing to do with the Rantau by-election today. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 13, 2019.

THE transport minister denied that the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) was revised to fish for votes in the Rantau by-election.

Anthony Loke said the decision was made in talks with China, which started last year soon after Pakatan Harapan’s 14th general election win and promise to review the multi-billion-ringgit rail project.

“The announcement for the change of direction for the ECRL was not done for this by-election because the discussions (with China) were carried out since last year,” he said at a ceramah yesterday in Rantau last night. 

The rerouting will see more states feeling the impact and benefit from development, especially rural areas in Negri Sembilan, such as the Jelebu district and Kuala Klawan.

Daim Zainuddin, the special envoy heading the ECRL talks with China, said the 688km link would be slightly shorter but remains as a double-tracking line.

It will now bypass Gombak but include Kota Baru-Mentakab-Jelebu-Kuala Kelawang-Bangi/Putrajaya-Port Klang. 

A crowd of about 1,000 were present at last night’s penultimate Rantau ceramah. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 13, 2019.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng hinted that the line change could be beneficial for Negri Sembilan. 

Loke told the 1,000 attendees that the route change also avoided the building of an 18km tunnel which would cut through Banjaran Titiwangsa. 

“The route change also means that more states will be positively impacted by the development surrounding the ECRL. Before this there were only four states that would feel the impact, now there are five states.”

The government will also save RM21.5 billion on the ECRL project, Loke said. 

“We saved RM21.5 billion on the ECRL project. The budget for Negri Sembilan for one year is RM400 million, this means the amount we saved can sustain Negri Sembilan for 50 years.”

Putrajaya said yesterday the ECRL will resume at a reduced cost following the signing of a supplementary agreement (SA) between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and CCCC.

The Prime Minister’s Department said the construction cost for phase 1 and 2 of the ECRL has now been reduced to RM44 billion from its original cost of RM65.5 billion. – April 13, 2019. 

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