NAJIB: GOVT MISLEADING PEOPLE WITH PIL-1 PROJECT
It is strange govt proceeding with ‘costly’ project, says ex-PM
DATUK Seri Najib Razak has accused the government of misleading the people by proceeding with the 19.5km Pan-Island Link (PIL) 1 project in Penang despite an increase in its cost from RM7.5 billion to RM9 billion.
He said the government had previously condemned him over the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project by saying that it cost too much and was a waste of public funds.
He said this was despite the fact that the 688km rail line was a people-centric project which would benefit five states.
“They (Pakatan Harapan) claimed that RM55 billion for the 688km line, which translated to about RM80 million per km, was too costly.
“This is despite the fact that the amount included the cost of the trains, construction of 27 stations and 50km of tunnel.
“The strange thing is that they have decided to carry on with the PIL-1 project even though the cost has escalated from RM7.5 billion to RM9 billion or RM461 million per km. They want to continue even when the people in Penang are against it,” he said.
Najib said the Penang government had applied for a RM1 billion allocation from the Federal Government for the project.
The former prime minister said the cost of every kilometre of PIL1 was far more than the RM161 million per km spent on the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) project under his administration in 2015.
He said DAP leaders then had also made noise that the project was a waste and cost too much.
He also chided the government for its willingness to spend RM2.55 billion to buy Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor (Splash).
“The price they are paying is 10 times more than the original offer made by the Selangor government in 2013. They are willing to fork out all this money but yet are unwilling to pay the living allowances for Felda settlers and fishermen, while at the same time cutting the amount given to BR1M recipients,” he said in a Facebook posting.
Najib said this showed that whatever Pakatan Harapan leaders had been attacking him with prior to the 14th General Election was just to hide the reality and mislead the people.