LETTER | To the government that the rakyat unanimously voted for, congratulations on the savings secured from recent cuts in projects, governmental bodies and the country’s spending. For all the serious efforts the government has been putting in to steer the country away from its troubled financial situation, I commend them.

However, I can’t help but probe the government further on the latest unfolding of the project-cuts drama – the termination of the entire MRT2 underground package, which will be relegated for future tendering.

The reason was vaguely given as due to “the two parties (the government and main contractor, MMC-Gamuda) having failed to reach an agreement” which isn’t much of an explanation. For a project the scale of MRT2 worth RM16 billion, the impact to current jobs, supply chains and the incurred compensations for the hundreds of sub-contract termination should be significant.

Yet very little is mentioned about the implications to existing stakeholders, with most news and official circulation merely trumpeting the great savings these directives would make. It’s as if the number one decisive factor for such overnight whopping changes are purely dominated by financial factors.

At face value, it hard to understand how disrupting a project well into more than a quarter of its progress, with an entire line of subcontractors, suppliers, and resources in full mobilization (up from the advent of MRT1 itself) would make more sense than actually rationalising the project at the stage it is at now?

It begs the question, have all things, financial and non-financial, been considered in the decision-making process? After all, there’s usually a trade off in the form of hidden costs to society, unemployment being an immediate example, environmental impact another.

Do we really want to reembark on further prolonged cycles of traffic disruptions, land acquisitions issues and general construction inconveniences that would be incurred by delaying current works or when returning for future reworks?

These are important questions that explore the important aspects in decision making towards sustainable development of the country, of which financial savings is merely a subcomponent.

Granted, these hidden costs are far less tangible than the facts and figures of monetary savings, but what’stopping the government from conducting nationwide polls or surveys to truly gauge the people’s sentiments towards major national issues as these?

Personally, I’d be interested to know whether this decision means I won’t be getting to transit from Kajang to Putrajaya via the MRT by the initially scheduled 2022? That’s already a hidden cost I’m paying as a commuter. Would the project now be undertaken by a foreign party better positioned to finance it? Another hidden cost, we as a country would have to pay, in forgoing local opportunities.

Yes, money talks, but the general public should be informed on what are the trade-offs incurred apart from just how much tax savings we’ve achieved. Time is a factor as potent as financial sense. We’re already severely behind our neighbours on the development of our public transportation connectivity, can we even afford to intercept an entire metro project going in at full speed, re-tender them, mobilise an entire new entity of workforce and resources, and expect to get back at it with the same delivery targets and quality?

Surely with all the major reshuffling in national spending, the government’s cash flow should look good at the end of its term. But whether these moves would match the country’s overall increase in livability or sustainability – that is another benchmark the government should be called to account for in all major national directives.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.