Tony Pua: Najib's highways a figment of his imagination to impress the people

It looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak, after spending millions on false publicity, is starting to lose touch with the real world.

According to DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua, Najib was not serious about the 5 new highway projects he unveiled in the Budget 2012. And the reason why? Because Najib has not even begun any work on the 6 highway projects he detailed in Budget 2011.

“It is ridiculous and shows he is not treating the budget seriously. Datuk Seri Najib Razak must explain if these ‘high-impact’ projects are just part of a ‘wish list to impress’,” Tony told reporters on Thursday.

Trademark 'all form but no substance'

He was sharing with the press a reply from the Prime Minister’s Department that of the six highways announced last year, “some have received in-principle approval from the Cabinet while others are still being studied”. In other words, the projects have not kicked off yet.

The highways announced in Budget 2011 were the Ampang Elevated Highway (Pandas-Cheras), Guthrie-Damansara Highway, Damasara-Petaling Jaya Highway, West Coast Highway (Banting-Taiping), Sungai Dua-Jurur Highway and Senawang-KLIA Highway.

The West Coast Highway was repeated in last week’s Budget, with the East Coast Jabor-Kuala Terengganu Highway, Segamat-Tangkak Highway, Central Spine Highway and Kota Marudu-Ranau Road added to the list.

“It appears that the announcement has no tangible substance because the likelihood is the highway projects announced in the current budget will not see the light of day,” Tony said.

Najib's RM232 billion Budget 2012 unveiled on October 7 has been panned, receiving a lukewarm response despite extending a slew of cash incentives to the people.

Shockingly absent were any substantial measures to reform the economy and to guard it against the global economic meltdown anticipated by financial experts including the IMF and former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who predicted that it would take a "long" time for Malaysia to get out of the next recession.

Malaysia Chronicle