Kota Kinabalu: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) criticised Warisan’s renewed pitch for a major railway network covering Sabah as a replay, which the party failed to pursue when in power.
“Discussions on a 175km Kota Kinabalu-Kudat railway line during Warisan’ss 2018–2020 administration never progressed beyond feasibility talks,” said GRS Supreme Council member Datuk John Ambrose.
“Shafie did admit that Warisan failed to realise it because it would have cost the government RM5.2 billion. If he thought it was important for Sabah, why stop there?
“Now they are trying to repackage the same ideas without telling how they’re going to do it. And if it’s going to cost a lot more, which I believe it would, where would he get the funds? From federal?” he said in a statement.
Shafie, in one of his election campaign speeches, claimed to have been told by a China company that it could build a railway that connects major towns in Sabah in three to four years.
John said voters should focus on realistic development strategies rather than “feel-good promises.”
GRS on the other hand, he said, updated technical assessments for state rail expansion, reviewed alignment options for the proposed east coast connection and coordinated with the Federal Government on integrating Sabah’s needs into the early stages of the Trans-Borneo Railway study.
John added that GRS’ review efforts were part of a longer-term aim to secure federal co-funding for any future megaproject, given Sabah’s limited fiscal capacity.
John pointed out how the Pan-Borneo Highway faced delays and controversy largely stemming from the termination of the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model by Warisan.
