Najib to help realise Sarawak’s LRT dream

KUCHING: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will help Sarawak materialise its Light Rail Transit (LRT) plan, if need be.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said Putrajaya would not hesitate to lend a helping hand if Sarawak can deliver ‘A+ result’ in the next general election.

“The people in the Klang Valley area are shocked by the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) implemented by the BN government. They are shocked not because of the public transport but because the MRT is driverless.

“Driverless MRT is not something in the future, it is happening now in Malaysia. So if Sarawak aspires to have LRT, why not?

“We can do it but first things first, deliver the result (in the coming election). I believe Sarawak is capable of delivering an A+ result given its achievement in the last state election,” he said when launching the 14th Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Convention at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching here yesterday.

Najib said the federal government could chip in for the state’s LRT project following Chief Minister and PBB president Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s welcoming speech that touched on the subject matter.

Earlier, Abang Johari said: “Datuk Seri Najib, we have to build LRT because we need to open up new areas with good public transport system as well as affordable homes for the people.”

He said the state government had its own mechanism to fund the LRT project.

“We have our way, but if it is not enough, we will ask from Datuk Seri Najib, because our (election) result is A+,” he added.

Abang Johari said Kuching had a railway to connect it to Kota Sentosa during the Brooke’s era.

“I do not know why Batu 7 (Kota Sentosa) was the destination... all I know is that there is a mental hospital in Batu 7.

“The opposition said there is no need for us to have the LRT system, but now there is a traffic problem in Kota Sentosa,” he said.