KOTA BARU: About 10,000 villagers are expected to be relocated to make way for the construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) in Kelantan.
State public works, infrastructure, utility and information technology committee chairman Datuk Hanifa Ahmad said the affected villagers are from several areas including Pasir Puteh, Bachok, Tumpat and here.
He said the project, which covers about 70km and divided in two phases, is expected to start in March next year.
“The first phase, which will start from Pasir Putih and end in Kota Baru, has already completed the acquisition of land and the second phase will involve identifying the land.
“The project was scheduled to start in January next year but due to this problem, it has to be delayed to as early as March,” said Hanifa in reply to a question by Abdul Rahman Yunus (Pas-Pasir Tumboh) at state legislative assembly sitting today.
He said the ECRL trains from the Pengkalan Kubor, Wakaf Bharu and Tok Bali stations will be used to transport both passengers and goods while the stations in Tunjung and Jelawat will only transport passengers.
Replying to a supplementary question by Abdul Rahman on the importance of ECRL compared to Central Spine Road (CSR), he said the state government believed that CSR was more important for the people of Kelantan.
Meanwhile, Kelantan federal action council chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the federal government decided to set up ECRL to bring in more investors to east coast states, especially Kelantan.
He said many investors were less interested in Kelantan as it has no direct connections to the ports.
“The federal government has the same opinion at the beginning but later found that this railway system is important as it can help transport goods.
"The federal government also want to turn Kelantan into a more attractive place that can provide a direct connection to the ports. The ECRL is good for locals and many have shown their support for its implementation,” said the international trade and industry minister.
Mustapa, who is also Jeli member of parliament and Air Lanas assemblyman, said this to reporters on the sidelines of the state assembly sitting here.