KUALA LUMPUR: The government is urged to cancel the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project if it incurs more losses and instead focus more on socio-economic development in the East Coast, says prominent economist Professor Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
He said the problem of clean water, sanitation and floods in Kelantan have long been in need of immediate attention.
Jomo said the existing transportation system in the East Coast, such as land and air routes, was sufficient without the need for a high-speed train.
“The project will not develop the East Coast, so (aborting the ECRL) will not mean neglecting the East Coast, in actual fact it’s a trick used by certain parties to save a fake project.
“From the time the project was drawn up, it was meant to rake in profits and wealth for certain quarters, perhaps with the aim of covering up 1MDB’s fraud and losses,” he told reporters when met at the ‘New Media’ luncheon talk for media editors and practitioners here today.
Jomo said the issue involving the RM81 billion project was very ‘difficult’ (complicated) as it involved many outside parties and much of the country’s assets need to be rescued in the interest and development of Malaysia.
He said the ‘cut loss’ approach was better in order to save the country’s finances but it was not easy as the amount of loans taken was quite large.
“The government needs space and time to solve this.
“The authorities need to unite and deal with the outside parties involved to trim the losses and salvage as much as we can,” he said.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that negotiations on the project were still ongoing and that no decision had been made as yet.
He said paying compensation was still a better option than proceeding with the mammoth project which may impoverish the nation. – Bernama
