PM: GOVT CAN REDUCE DEBT BY RM300B

This is if it cancels the ECRL, HSR and gas pipeline projects

THE cancellation of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Kuala LumpurSingapore High-Speed Rail and Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline projects can reduce the government’s debt burden by more than RM300 billion, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

He said the projects were too costly to be funded by the government, while their development plans did not match the expectations of returns to recover the debts incurred.

“In the past, if we were to execute plans, we ensured that we had enough money. If we did not have enough money, we determined how much was the debt level (and) how much could be repaid from the return on investment, that’s the best way.”

He said this principle was not practised by the previous government, which incurred huge debts to carry out mega projects without considering the ability to repay them.

He said the government only scrapped projects which that give problems to the people.

For example, he said in the case of the ECRL project, money was borrowed on the condition that a foreign company would be given the contract.

“Foreign workers were brought in, while equipment and tools were all made by a foreign country. So, what do we get? We’ve got nothing. If we were to cancel these projects, the victims are their workers, not ours. So, we cancelled them so that we do not have to pay huge debts.”

On the new national car project, he said it would boost the people’s interest in mastering engineering and manufacturing.