WHAT SORT OF SELL-OUT DEAL HAS NAJIB STRUCK WITH CHINA? AS DR M WARNS UN-VIABLE MEGA PROJECTS INCLUDING ECRL MAY BE AXED, UMNO MEDIA RUSHES TO WARN BILLIONS OF RINGGIT IN COMPENSATION WILL HAVE TO BE PAID

Should it come into power, Pakatan Harapan will review all foreign direct investments (FDI) and cancel projects like the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) if they are found to be contrary to the country’s interests.

This was announced by the coalition’s chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his weekly “Policy Talk” speech on his Facebook page this morning.

Flaying Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s efforts to woo Chinese investors to Malaysia, he said this method of bringing in FDIs was not beneficial to the country.

“FDI, as we understand it, is when we bring in investment and technology from other countries to set up initiatives that are run by Malaysians at every level.

“But what Najib is doing is bringing in money to buy land to build luxurious cities… and these foreign investors do not create job opportunities for Malaysians. They bring in workers from their own countries and this does not benefit our country,” he said.

Mahathir did not offer any specific examples but he has gone off the record to state his opposition towards the ECRL – developed by China Communications Construction Company Ltd – and Forest City – developed by Country Garden.

RELATED STORIES:  Bayar pampasan berbilion ringgit jika batal ECRL

Malaysiakini published special reports which detailed how Forest City and the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park were mostly reliant on labour and material from China.

Najib previously engaged Chinese firms to develop Bandar Malaysia but the mega-project has yet to secure a master developer. The Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), another one of Najib’s development initiatives, is being developed by Indonesian firm Mulia Group together with contractors China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

Mahathir said that a Harapan government would study such FDI developments and consider cancelling them.

“We can’t allow our land to be developed by foreigners, for people from their country.

“We believe that when Harapan becomes the government, we will study these investments and if they are not important, we will negotiate new deals to perhaps cancel these projects,” he said.

Back in November 2016, Najib signed 14 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with China worth a total of RM143.64 billion.

‘ECRL is not viable’

Aside from his disapproval of foreign development of land, Mahathir also reiterated his criticism of the ECRL and predicted that the rail project will not succeed.

“Even the west coast railway (KTM) is not making any profits and often needs to be bailed out by the government.

“And in the West Coast (of the peninsular) we have a bigger population, more industrial activity like to production of materials like palm oil.

“In the East Coast, there is a smaller population and if people want to travel to KL, they have a choice to use budget airlines.

“This shows that this (ECRL) project is not viable,” he said, adding that Harapan would also consider halting the project should it form the government.

CCCC, which has been awarded the contract to develop the RM55 billion rail project, is a Chinese state-owned firm.

The government is also taking a soft loan from the China Export Import Bank for the project.

Touted as a “game-changer”, Najib previously said the 620km ECRL would grow the economies of East Coast states.

The rail project is part of China’s One Belt, One Road global infrastructure development initiative.

MEANWHILE, according to Berita Harian:

Bayar pampasan berbilion ringgit jika batal ECRL

KUALA LUMPUR: Kerajaan perlu membayar pampasan berbilion ringgit kepada kontraktor projek Laluan Rel Pantai Timur (ECRL) sekiranya pakatan pembangkang hendak menamatkan projek itu apabila mereka menjadi kerajaan.

Penganalisis ekonomi, Prof Dr Wan Mansor Wan Mahmood, berkata itu adalah risiko perlu ditanggung Kerajaan Pusat sekiranya hendak menamatkan projek itu.

“Jika projek itu dibatalkan, sudah tentu kerajaan perlu bayar pampasan berbilion ringgit kepada kontraktor. Projek itu ada terma dan perjanjian antara dua pihak.

“Jika satu pihak menarik diri, mesti ada pampasan perlu dibayar. Kerajaan terpaksa keluarkan duit yang banyak. Ia bergantung kepada klausa perjanjian,” katanya kepada BH, di sini, hari ini.

Beliau mengulas kenyataan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang menyatakan kerajaan pakatan pembangkang akan menamatkan projek ECRL jika mendapati ia tidak berdaya maju dan menguntungkan.

Dr Mahathir berkata demikian dalam slot video secara langsung ‘Bicara Dasar: Pentadbiran dan Ekonomi’ disiarkan menerusi Facebook hari ini.

Wan Mansor yang juga Ahli Jawatankuasa Kluster Ekonomi dan Pengurusan Majlis Profesor Negara (MPN) berkata, tanggapan Dr Mahathir yang projek seperti itu tidak berdaya maju atau tidak menguntungkan juga samar.

Katanya, ini kerana sebelum hendak melaksanakan sesuatu projek mega, kerajaan sudah menjalankan kajian menyeluruh dan menilai impak ekonomi kepada negeri serta kawasan terbabit dalam jajaran laluan ECRL.

Sementara itu, katanya, hasrat pakatan pembangkang memansuhkan Cukai Barang dan Perkhidmatan (GST) dengan melaksanakan semula cukai jualan akan menyebabkan kehilangan pendapatan kerajaan sehingga RM15 bilion setahun.

Beliau berkata, kehilangan hasil kerajaan daripada sumber petroleum akibat kejatuhan harga minyak kini ditampung menerusi kutipan GST.

“Menerusi GST, kerajaan dapat mengutip hasil sehingga RM40 bilion, tetapi jika kembali kepada pelaksanaan cukai jualan, kerajaan hanya kutip RM15 bilion saja,” katanya.

MKINI / BERITA HARIAN