Loke to seek audience with Sultan Sharafuddin over LRT3 issue

MUAR: DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook says he will seek an audience with Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah after the sultan criticised two DAP leaders for their role in the Shah Alam LRT3 line, which started operations on Monday.

The Selangor ruler singled out former finance minister Lim Guan Eng and his then political secretary, Tony Pua, for reducing the project’s cost after stating that they failed to understand the need for the 37.8km rail link from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia.

Guan Eng is currently DAP’s adviser and Pua is the party’s disciplinary committee chief.

“I will seek to have an audience with Sultan Sharafuddin,” said Loke, who is also the transport minister.

“DAP accepts the reprimand, but I will try to … provide an explanation. It is not about cancelling the project but rather about rationalising its costs.

“Lim and Pua issued a statement today containing certain facts that need to be highlighted,” he told reporters after a Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Bakri.

In a royal address in conjunction with the opening of the Shah Alam LRT3 line, Sultan Sharafuddin said the project had been stalled for more than 18 months following the change of government in 2018 and further delayed by 19 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sultan said Lim and Pua reduced the project’s cost, allegedly because it was a “mega project”, and also downsized station sizes, reduced the number of trains and cancelled five stations.

The Selangor ruler credited former prime minister Najib Razak with approving the project following his request for a rail link connecting Klang, Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur, and praised Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for continuing the project after taking office.