Malaysia to continue with East Coast Rail Link project at lower than original cost: PM Anwar
KUALA LUMPUR: The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project will continue under the current administration, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, though it will cost the government RM11.01 billion (US$2.48 billion) less than originally expected.
In a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Dec 21), Mr Anwar said that the government will continue with the megaproject as it is “tied down to old agreements”.
“Although there are additional costs due to realignments, if we were to look at the overall cost of the ECRL, it is RM11.01 billion less as compared to the original cost of RM85.97 billion in 2016,” said Mr Anwar.
He added that the decision was made to continue with the project, but stressed that there will no longer be major changes to it that may delay the implementation process and complicate existing work and negotiations.
The rail network will traverse through four states - Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor.
Former transport minister Wee Ka Siong had previously stated last year that after some revisions, the project would cost the then-government RM50 billion.
Earlier this month, newly-appointed Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the ECRL project was among the ongoing transportation projects that will continue despite a change in the federal government after the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
Mr Loke was previously also the transport minister under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government from May 2018 to February 2020.
The PH government halted the project briefly in 2018, though works later resumed in 2019.
On the heels of the GE15 last month, the media had reported that Mr Loke, who is also secretary-general of Democratic Action Party (DAP), a PH coalition member, had pledged that the project would not be cancelled if the coalition came into power.
