Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali revealed on Tuesday (22 May) that the new Pakatan Harapan government will scrutinise the prior administration’s large-scale projects, reported the New Straits Times.
“We want to revisit all mega projects approved by the previous administration and we will also want to renegotiate the terms, but if the projects have not been carried out, we will only focus on those which will have a direct impact on the people.”
He said there’s a need to review the viability of these developments as some were hastily implemented just before the recent 14th General Election.
“We will see if they are beneficial or otherwise, as we also have to consider the legal implications if the projects are halted,” he told the media. He also conducted a briefing with the Prime Minister’s Department and officials from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
Mohamed Azmin confirmed that among the major projects to be evaluated is the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and the High Speed Rail (HSR) connecting Singapore with Kuala Lumpur.
“We need to look at what happened and we want to make sure that the whole process is transparent and open. Let me sit down with the relevant authorities and agencies before we decide what to do next.”
“We must be open and very transparent in procurement processes,” he noted.
Moreover, it’s important to ensure the viability of these large-scale project given that Malaysia’s debt had ballooned to a whooping RM1 trillion.
“We have discussed about it this morning and we need to look at factors which contributed to this huge debt.”
“Part of it was because the process was not transparent and open, and most of the major projects was not budgeted in the national budget. It was off-budget,” he added.
Image sourced from NST Online
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
For the latest property news, trends, resources and expert opinions, visit our Property News section. Home buyers, sellers or property renters looking for Malaysian Properties, may like to visit the New Launches or Project Reviews page.
