Freedom of Information is Vital for Malaysia’s Progress

All the recent bad mouthing in the press after the cancellation of the “Crooked Bridge” project really proves that the public should be informed whenever major decisions are being made.

In fact a referendum for Johoreans would have been appropriate for this project, as the bridge would have affected Johor Baru town with respect to traffic patterns and new tolls to pay for the project.

My only contention is that the referendum should have been before the award was signed, sealed and delivered and not at this late stage of the proceedings. In fact if we had local council elections, the bridge project would have been one of the campaign issues.

In order to know that we have not all been hoodwinked into a mega-project it would be appropriate for the government to publish all the contract details from the time the project was conceived and how the promoters were able to promote this scheme so vigorously.

It would also be useful for the Works Ministry to explain how a temporary road of about 1.5km can cost RM30m and how it has now been escalated to RM100m for a 6-lane flyover to the new CIQ.

For good governance open tender should be called for this project, as I am sure RM100m is not the best deal for taxpayers. After all the project has already been delayed for 2 years and adding another month for the tender exercise is not going to be a major concern.

photo: malaysiakini