KUALA LUMPUR: The new Mass Rapid Transit Sungai Buloh-Kajang line has received positive feedback and many speak with pride about those who built the world class public transportation project.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the response has been a delight for him to read about the MRT SBK line which became fully operation since July 17.
Najib said with that in place, 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.
“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, 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
ends.
keywords - MRT, Mass Rapid Transit, Sungai Buloh-Kajang line, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, world class public transportation, pride, delight