Najib says Harapan blocking Sabah's progress, cites 'abandoned' highway

Citing what he claimed was the abandoned Pan Borneo Highway project, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak accused the Pakatan Harapan government of blocking BN's effort to develop Sabah. 

He said the toll-free highway was "a gift" from the BN government to Sabahans.

"Two issues linger before this by-election. The first issue is what I have seen for myself, the abandoned Pan Borneo Highway.

"This was the mega-project during the BN era when I was still the premier. My wish was to give it to Sabahan as a gift that would change the economic landscape in Sabah. And it is a toll-free highway," he said.

"When Pakatan Harapan took over, they just amended the implementation method to save up to RM1 billion but this will never become a reality," Najib told the media at Membakut, one of the state seats in Kimanis.

Najib was in the locality ahead of the Kimanis by-election on Jan 18. Nomination day is tomorrow while early voting will begin on Jan 14.

Najib had earlier performed the Friday prayers at Putatan.

The Pan Borneo Highway project, a distance of 1,236km and costing RM12.86 billion, was launched by Najib in April 2016. It was reported on June 29 that the Works Ministry would take over the project by the end of September.

Last month, the government reappointed 11 contractors and 12 consultants for the Sabah package of the project who were previously appointed through the Project Delivery Partner (PDP).

Najib said the people in Kimanis will benefit from the project as they can travel to Kota Kinabalu for work once it is completed.

Kota Kinabalu is 55 kilometres away from Kimanis and road-users will spend close to 80 minutes on the road.

The highway will also stimulate the local economy in small towns such as Kimanis, Najib added, urging voters in Kimanis to support the BN candidate for the by-election, Mohamad Alamin, to show their protest against Harapan.

Najib said he decided to come to Kimanis as requested by the people and he also wanted to show support for the BN candidate.

"Nobody can deny that BN prioritised the people and not tell the people to tighten their belts while the ministers get (Toyota) Vellfires," he said.

"What is wrong with using Proton? (They) accused BN of being extravagant and the people can see for themselves," added Najib.

Putrajaya plans to obtain 32 Toyota Vellfires for ministers and 3,000 Honda Accords for senior government officials.

This was following the end of a 25-year government concession with Spanco Sdn Bhd (Spanco) this year. - Mkini