Najib urges new govt not to cancel projects approved by Pakatan
PUCHONG: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the new government not to cancel off infrastructure projects approved by the previous Pakatan Harapan government.
In a Facebook post today, Najib urged the Perikatan Nasional administration not to repeat the mistakes made by the previous government, which had an adverse effect to the economy.
“I hope the new government will not be as stupid as Pakatan. The government should not cancel off projects approved by the previous government as it would disrupt local economy and scare away investors.
“Even if you want to scrutinise the projects, do it when the project is running or after the economy recovers.
“We must ensure that the money flowing in the local economy is not disrupted; with employers and employees not becoming victims of petty politics,” he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled his Cabinet list after taking over the federal government with the new pact, Perikatan Nasional.
This came following Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) departure from the Pakatan coalition.
Hurling brickbats at the previous government, Najib said that the former Pakatan administration meddled with 121 projects awarded to companies during his administration, even though the projects were already running.
He also alleged that the companies were forced to stop work between six and nine months, adding that they were given ultimatum to provide discounts between 5% and 10% or else.
“If the companies refused to lower their prices, the government threatened that they would cancel off their projects.
“Due to the situation, the companies had to provide discounts to avoid cancellation, which would trigger massive losses.
“After getting the discounts, our former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng will boast about his intelligence in reducing costs as he managed to save 5.8% (RM805.9 million) from projects worth RM13.9 billion,” he said.
The Pekan MP said that many did not realise the adverse impact suffered by the economy after the so-called savings were made.
He added that due to the losses suffered by the companies, the latter was forced to lay-off thousands of workers and impacted sub-contractors’ profitability.
“And the losses suffered by these people is worse than the so-called savings made,” said Najib, adding that Pakatan also could not find any fault in the tender process of the 121 projects.
By G Vinod
