PUTRAJAYA, April 6 — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has expressed confidence that the Selangor government and authorities will cooperate with the Federal government on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, as the mega project could not afford any more delays.
Wee said if there are to be further delays, the 665-kilometre long rail service from Kota Bharu to Port Klang would not be able to fully operate, besides the country also facing the prospect of suffering from losses in servicing the loans.
“I am confident most of them are professional officers especially the politicians. I have full confidence that the Menteri Besar and state authorities will give us full cooperation,” he said commenting on Selangor executive councillor Teng Chang Khim’s statement that the state government will not help acquire land for the project if the Federal government insisted on the northern alignment of the ECRL.
Wee announced Monday that Section C or the northern alignment of the ECRL from Mentakab to Port Klang has been reverted to the original alignment as proposed in 2016-2017.
This is following the Cabinet’s decision on Sept 2 last year, which approved the alignment, and in a meeting on March 31, pushed for immediate implementation of the northern alignment project, which connects Mentakab to Port Klang through Bentong, Gombak and Serendah.
Speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of Note of Cooperation between the Health Ministry (MOH) and Ministry of Transport (MOT) here today, Wee said the MOT had done its best in engaging and discussing with all the state governments involved especially Selangor.
“We cannot wait and we have waited for the past eight months. We tried our best to talk to the state. We had 37 consultation meetings with 17 agencies in Selangor,” he said, adding that each and every concern raised by the Selangor government, namely environmental and social aspects had been addressed.
