Loke: Ongoing projects will continue, including ECRL

Ongoing transportation projects including the East Coast Rail Link Project (ECRL) would continue, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

“We have not gone into the details yet, but one major project that will continue is the ECRL,” he was quoted in a Bernama report when met by reporters after clocking into his office to begin work as transport minister.

After Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government in 2018, the fate of the ECRL project had been uncertain as they attempted to renegotiate the deal with China. The project was resumed with a reduced construction cost after months of negotiation.

The Malay Mail also reported Loke as saying the ECRL will proceed without any other amendments after the project was reviewed by the previous Harapan administration.

“In general, that is our approach. But I know that for a fact for the Transport Ministry one major project is, of course, there will be continuity with the ECRL,” Loke said.

“I’ve mentioned even during the [election] campaign, in the event we take back the government, this project will continue because we know that it has gone through many rounds of negotiations and changes in terms of routing.

“We don’t want to make any other amendments at this point of time because it has started and construction has begun, and I think the project if progressing well,” he said as reported by The Malay Mail.

Meanwhile, Bernama also quoted Loke (above) saying improvement of public transport, digitalisation of services, and road safety are among the key agendas that the Transport Ministry will focus on.

He would also look into having additional trains to further reduce traffic congestion.

However, Loke said, he would discuss the matter with Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) to see the technical constraints if the train frequency could be increased, especially during peak hours.

“Yesterday, I took the Light Rail Transit (LRT) in order to understand the problems faced by users, I need to talk with the operator first to be briefed on their plans.

“What we hope is to be able to increase the frequency of the train service.”

On the digitalisation of services, Loke said it had been started when he helmed the ministry before, including the number plate registration system, i.e the Road Transport Department (JPJ) eBid.

“There are many sectors that we need to digitalise… we must work towards this (digitalisation). My vision is to see all the services we provide to the people can be offered digitally without any physical contact in line with the new norms of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

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