PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has dismissed calls for Putrajaya to “repay” the Terengganu government RM1.43 billion in costs for the construction of the East Coast Expressway 2 (LPT2).
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the federal and state governments had jointly agreed to use a special federal government fund known as DKKP to partly cover the highway’s construction costs.
He said that under the DKKP trust account’s instructions, funds are meant for “programmes, projects and activities that will benefit the people” in the relevant states.
“The account instructions do not have provisions about repaying any state government if projects carried out by the federal government or federal agencies are funded by the DKKP trust account.
“Therefore, the demand (for the federal government) to repay the Terengganu government RM1.43 billion in construction costs for the LPT2 does not arise,” he said in a written parliamentary reply to Shaharizukirnain Abdul Kadir (PN-Setiu).
Anwar said his administration was open to considering proposals from the Terengganu government for new programmes or projects in the state using the DKKP funds.
For years, Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar has maintained that Putrajaya owes the state government RM1.43 billion over the LPT2’s construction.
Samsuri, who is Perikatan Nasional chairman, claimed that there was a Cabinet paper outlining an agreement to repay the state government the amount.
