Next, building MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya line - PM

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was now working at embarking on the second Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) route, the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line.

The prime minister said the BN government's effort did not stop with the completion of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line which was fully opened last month.

"Our focus now is to deliver the second line to the people, the MRT SSP line which will benefit some two million residents from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya, encompassing Sri Damansara, Kepong, Batu, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Jalan Tun Razak, KLCC, Tun Razak Exchange, Kuchai Lama, Sungai Besi, Seri Kembangan and Cyberjaya."

The prime minister said this in his latest posting on his official blog site, najibrazak.com, today.

Najib said based on studies, the 52.2km MRT SSP line with 37 stations would be able to record 529,000 passengers per day commuting on the service line when operational by the second quarter of 2022.

"This is another project awaited by the people and I believe we will succeed once again, InsyaAllah (God willing," he said.

Najib also shared his delight of reading good feedback from commuters of the MRT SBK line which which became fully operational since July 17.

"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), all gave positive feedback, in fact they were proud of the hard work of Malaysians who planned and built this world-class public transportation project," he said.

Najib, meanwhile, hit out at opposition leaders who had claimed that the cost of building this MRT line would be RM100 billion.

"It's ridiculous. So, can we believe them? Just like other accusations, this was just a tactic to confuse and frighten the public," he said.

Najib said from the financial aspect of building the MRT line, a large portion of it was through the tender system to ensure transparency and continuity of the project, besides good governance.

"In this process, we also did not forget the Bumiputera empowerment agenda. We gave opportunities and benefits to many Bumiputeras through the initiative of 'carve out and compete'.

"About 50 per cent of the work were given to Bumiputera companies for the main work package."

Najib said this was among the government's efforts to promote the development capacity of Bumiputera companies, besides proving that these companies were capable if given the opportunities.

"Just look at the result, proving that the Bumiputeras and young Malays could deliver, thus changing the perception towards Bumiputera and Malay contractors," he added.

-- BERNAMA