MRT CEO: Cancelling MRT3 not a mistake but country will need it in future

The decision to cancel the MRT 3 Circle Line was not a mistake but the government should reconsider it in the future, said MRT Corp chief executive officer Shahril Mokhtar today.

“It’s not a mistake to cancel (the project) but it still needs to be done in the future.

“We will abide by the government’s decision but we also acknowledge that the MRT3 is critical to close all the loops.

“We hope that one day in the future, once the government’s fiscal position gets better, the government will consider this (again),” he told the press after meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons at Menara Ilham in Kuala Lumpur.

Shahril added that the decision to scrap the project had not been discussed with MRT Corp beforehand.

“But we just started planning it, no major contracts have been awarded yet,” he said, elaborating that construction work had not begun either.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that the estimated RM50 billion project was off. 

The circle line project was intended to link up the completed MRT1 running from Sungai Buloh to Kajang and the ongoing MRT2 running from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya.

Mahathir had reasoned that projects like the MRT3 had to be scrapped in a bid to control the country's debt level, previously stated to be more than RM1 trillion.

"We are not only looking at the HSR but also other mega projects which will cost billions of ringgit.

"If this country is to avoid bankruptcy, we must learn to manage our big debts and one way is to do away with projects that are not beneficial to the country," he had said. -Mkini