Najib: Proceed with HSR, MRT3 projects, not national car

Former prime minister Najib Razak says protectionist measures will only burden the people.

(FMT) -Pakatan Harapan (PH) government should proceed with public transportation projects such as the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) and Mass Rapid Transit Line 3 (MRT3) instead of starting another national car company, said former prime minister Najib Razak.

He said the government should not reimplement protectionist measures that would only burden the people with higher car prices and financing costs.

“During my time as prime minister, I had made it a priority to gradually reduce car prices by a gradual reduction in taxes and by introducing incentives while expanding public transportation projects,” he said in his Facebook and Twitter postings today. 

He claimed that as a result of these measures, car prices now cost less than when he first became prime minister while usage of public transportation had surged.

“In the long-run, such measures to correct a legacy problem of the past will benefit the people to the tune of hundreds of billions of ringgit while providing more efficient, more cost-effective, less congested and less polluting transportation options.

“Do not cancel such public transportation projects just because I started them and reverting to projects merely based on pride that will cause greater harm to the rakyat,” he said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he planned to start a new national car project.

Speaking at the annual Nikkei Conference in Tokyo, he said Proton, which he established in 1983, was no longer a national car.