MEGA projects such as the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), MRT3 and Pan Borneo Highway will continue, Mustapa Mohamed said. 

“The only projects that will be postponed are those where the procurement process has not begun and those that have not been awarded yet,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) told the House during the ministers’ question time today.

He said the government will only postpone the “non-priority” projects that have no direct impact on people’s welfare and those with land issues.

“Ongoing projects and the ones financed by DanaInfra Nasional Bhd will continue so that we can maintain our growth,” said the Jeli MP.

To date, Mustapa said the government has only identified 30 projects worth RM100 million that will be postponed.

“This is out of the 7,243 projects worth RM5.6 billion that have been approved this year,” said Mustapa.

He said that the Works and Finance ministries as well as the Economic Planning Unit are meeting with various ministries to identify the projects that can be postponed.

Among the projects to be shelved are a centralised rubber processing unit under the Plantations and Commodities Ministry, and equipment procurement for the Human Resources Ministry.

“But rest assured that projects such as ECRL, MRT3 and Pan Borneo Highway will continue,” said Mustapa.

The minister was responding to Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai-PH), who asked the government to state projects that have been postponed and the costs saved.

Malaysia is currently cutting costs after commodity prices caused its subsidy bill to more than double amid higher import costs due to the Russia-Ukraine war. – July 21, 2022.