Pakatan wasn’t opposed to infrastructure projects: Loke hits back at Najib

KUALA LUMPUR – The notion that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was not in favour of infrastructure projects is merely a misconception designed by detractors for political mileage, said Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

Shooting down these accusations as baseless, the DAP secretary-general instead said the coalition prefers projects to be functional rather than for them to shout splendour.

Citing the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project as an example, Loke noted how the stations had been overdesigned but lacking in practicality, arguing that funds could have been better utilised to improve user experience.

“We took a more progressive approach to cut costs to make sure that all MRT stations are more functional, instead of looking grandiose,” he said during a podcast session with The Vibes.

“We have to make sure whatever project we undertake, in the end, it needs to be user-friendly and able to attract the public.”

Loke said that despite being operational for years, MRT ridership has remained relatively low.

“This was why, upon coming into federal power in 2018, PH had swiftly moved to identify the major grouses among users, which they then pinpointed to the issue of cost and convenience, or lack thereof.”

This, he said, pushed the then government to introduce a RM100 public transportation monthly pass and improve the first and last mile connectivity.

“These are the issues that we really focused on and tried to do differently so that the public can appreciate more. Of course, things were not perfect (under PH). We could have done better, I’ll admit.

“But I don’t think the PH government was opposed to any infrastructural projects. It’s actually a misconception created by the previous government, Barisan Nasional, and (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak.”

Loke’s remarks come days after Najib posted on Facebook blaming PH for allowing Malaysia to lag behind neighbouring countries when it comes to development, as several projects were scrapped during its time in power.

The former prime minister also made reference to high-speed rail (HSR) projects currently under construction in Thailand and Indonesia.

Loke, however, poured cold water on Najib’s statement, saying that the termination of Malaysia’s own HSR project, which would link to Singapore, was actually done under the Perikatan Nasional government.

“What we did was to review the project. We managed to get Singapore to agree with us, and suspended the project for two years to review its implementation. But Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government was the one that terminated it.”

Too much secrecy behind previous projects

On a similar note, Loke said many of the public transportation projects had to be reviewed due to a lack of transparency and lopsided agreements that had little benefit to Malaysia.

One example was the East Coast Rail Link, of which the majority of negotiations, Loke said, were executed in a very secretive manner.

“When I was minister, even officers from the Land Public Transport Commission were in the dark. They just took decisions from the Prime Minister’s Office to execute the projects without much deliberation.

“What we did was to review to see whether or not the projects were sustainable and viable, and to ensure the terms were better (for us).”

Loke pointed to another example being the Johor Baru–Singapore rapid transit system, which he said had to be renegotiated with the island republic to obtain terms that would better benefit Malaysia.

“Najib’s government did not push for that. The entire proposed system then was based on Singapore’s model. What was the benefit for Malaysia?”

On a separate matter, Loke said if he was still transport minister today, he would push for regulation of the p-hailing industry, even if it meant that his popularity would take a beating.

This is considering the number of road accidents involving motorcyclists, including food and parcel delivery riders.

“I did the same thing with the e-hailing industry. I know that until today there are people who say I was trying to kill the industry. But today, the industry is operating in a legal environment.

“I would have taken a similar approach as far as delivery workers are concerned, although some may not take it too well in the beginning.” – The Vibes, July 18, 2022

Tune into the full episode of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Ep 9 here.