Infra Rakyat will contribute to economic growth, raise quality of life - PM Najib

He said that since the country's independence until today, development had always been the Barisan Nasional government's agenda for the people and country.

"Yes, we are proud of the skyscrapers, racing tracks and so on, but these developments do not benefit the people directly.

"In other words these projects do not actually touch the pulse of the people. Therefore, since becoming the Prime Minister, I have made sure that national development must focus on the interests of the majority," he said in his latest entry in his blog NajibRazak.com Tuesday night.

As an example, he said, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) was built to relieve congestion due to the large number of vehicles in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.

The construction of the toll-free Pan Borneo Highway on the other hand was due to the slow pace of development in Sabah and Sarawak compared to Peninsular Malaysia and a shift was needed, he said.

On the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, Najib said this would further enhance cooperation and economic ties between Malaysia and Singapore as well as provide a variety of benefits and economic opportunities to the people of both countries.

The East Coast Railway Line (ECRL), he said, was planned to create a balance in development between the East Coast and West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in addition to creating economic growth and ease of travel for the East Coast population.

Najib stressed that all the major projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway, MRT, HSR and ECRL were only the beginning and the government planned to develop and provide more Infra Rakyat projects for continued prosperity of the people of Malaysia.