KUALA LUMPUR: There is no need to politicise transport infrastructure developments in the country, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister said he wanted Kelantan to experience its benefits as much as he wanted Penang, Sabah and Sarawak.
“Don’t play politics when it comes to infrastructure as it’s important for all states and territories,” Loke said when winding up Budget 2025 debates for the Transport Ministry at the committee level on Wednesday (Nov 27).
He stated that infrastructure development is meant for the people while also ensuring economic and national progress.
Loke said this in response to Ahmad Fadhli Shaari’s (PN-PAS) earlier remarks that the LRT line in Penang may be a white elephant based on the projected number of users.
“For public transport projects, it’s difficult to get a swift return on investments.
“It incurs a large government expenditure, and most public transport projects record losses.
“But we want to look at it through the socioeconomic development context,” said the minister.
Taking the example of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) passing through Kelantan, Loke said it is also difficult to justify based on potential users.
“I was the Transport Minister twice and never objected to the ECRL passing through Kelantan.
“We defended it, and recently, I attempted convincing the Cabinet to extend it up to Rantau Panjang,” he said.
The Transport Minister also addressed the issue of 62 passenger train sets being leased from China.
This comes after several MPs debated the punctuality and functionality of KTM services and why the trains had to be leased from China.
“We know punctuality is an issue, so we tried to solve it. We don’t have enough trains, and many cannot function.
“That’s why we came up with this model to acquire more train sets quickly,” he said.
He explained that only 10 train sets can be received at most under the regular procurement model.
“If we take 50 sets, it may take 15 years.
“At the same time, where are we going to store these sets?” he said.
He said the leasing model also takes a government-to-government approach, with guarantees provided.
