This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 31, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The finance ministry said the government has managed to save a project cost of RM66 billion, excluding interest cost, with the cancellation of the mass rapid transit line 3 (MRT3).

“For the MRT3 project, the government has basically decided to cancel this megaproject to reduce the country’s debt load,” it said in a written reply dated July 26 to Batang Sadong member of parliament Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, who wanted to know whether the government would continue with the plan to build the MRT3.

The ministry said works on the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya MRT line’s second phase (MRT2) will continue after the scope and project specifications are reviewed, while the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line’s first phase (MRT1) operates as usual.

The MRT3, estimated to cost up to RM40 billion, is the final alignment of the MRT series of urban rail networks, intended to link with the MRT1 and MRT2.