MELAKA: Cost-cutting must not come at the expense of rural roads in Sabah and Sarawak, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, amid calls from the Government to reveal who ordered the cancellation of projects in the two states.
The Rural and Regional Development Minister said his deputy minister would give the details during the committee stage debate in Parliament.
Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said communities in the interior of both states badly needed roads to stay connected.
"However far the cost-saving measures go, rural infrastructure must not be compromised in the name of savings, because communities in the interior of Sarawak and Sabah really need roads to connect them.
"More importantly, access must be given because they have been left behind for so long compared with the peninsula.
"It would be very fair if the cancellation could be set aside and they continue to be given this infrastructure," he told reporters at UTeM on Tuesday (Oct 27).
While winding up the Budget 2027 policy-stage debate in the Dewan Rakyat, Ahmad Zahid claimed some projects in Sabah and Sarawak this year had been ordered cancelled by the ministry's secretary-general despite allocations being available.
Penampang MP Datuk Ewon Benedick then asked who had issued the instruction to cancel 13 rural road projects in Sabah.
