PETALING JAYA: The success of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project shows Barisan Nasional's competence in planning major public transportation projects that benefit the people, says Pahang MCA Youth chief Wong Siew Mun.
She welcomed the Transport Minister's announcement that the project, through the ECRL Industrial Skills Training Programme (PLKI-ECRL), which will generate 3,200 job opportunities.
"Unfortunately, the project was politicised by the then-opposition, who alleged that the Barisan government was 'selling the country' to China merely because China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) was a partner in the project.
"Now, the ECRL project continues and is now being proudly championed by the Transport Minister (Anthony Loke) as a testament to the country's commitment to developing its rail network and building a better future for the nation," she said in a statement on Thursday (May 8).
On Tuesday, Loke announced that the PLKI-ECRL was focused on preparing for the Operations and Maintenance Manual (O&M) phase for the ECRL project, and projected that it would benefit a total of 3,200 trainees during this phase.
Wong said there was an undeniable sense of pride seeing mega projects initiated by the previous Barisan government still bringing benefits to the people and the country, even though it was relentlessly politicised and slandered, leading to a change of government in the 2018 General Election.
"One can only wonder how much better things could have been if Barisan's mega projects had not been irresponsibly politicised or turned into targets of slander by the Opposition.
"Imagine the benefits the rakyat could already be enjoying today and the economic spillover that would have been realised had these projects not been delayed due to vindictive politics.
"It is hoped that politicians will be more responsible in their conduct and refrain from hurling baseless accusations or slander merely to gain political mileage by inciting public anger and hatred," she added.
