Melaka Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh has defended his administration over the state’s 51 allegedly abandoned development projects, saying many of them were inherited from previous state governments, including those led by Pakatan Harapan (PH).
He said development projects often take years to complete and can span several administrations, making it unfair to place the entire blame on the current state government.
“These projects have a very long journey. They have been inherited from one chief minister to another, including our friends who previously served as chief minister, our friends on the other side (PH),” he said.
Ab Rauf was speaking to reporters after visiting the Ayer Molek state constituency operations room at Taman Tambak Paya Harmoni today.
Also present were Perikatan Nasional’s Bukit Katil candidate Ridzuan Sharif and Barisan Nasional’s Ayer Molek candidate Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ali.
His remarks came after Melaka PH chairman Adly Zahari called for a reassessment of stalled developments, including the Melaka Monorail, which involved an estimated RM16.5 million in expenditure, and the Arab City project.
Adly said the public deserved to know how much money had been spent, who was responsible and the current status of the assets, regardless of which administration had approved the projects.
PKR deputy secretary-general G Sivamalar had also demanded an explanation over the status of 55 state development projects reportedly yet to begin as of June 2025, including how many had since been completed or remained delayed.
Ab Rauf explained that Melaka’s development projects fall under different categories, including Federal Government initiatives and private investment projects, each with its own implementation arrangements.
Federal projects are coordinated through the Prime Minister’s Department’s Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), while private developments depend on the financial capabilities of the companies awarded concessions.
He cited the Melaka Monorail and land reclamation developments as examples of private-sector initiatives that had encountered implementation problems due to investors’ financial constraints.
“Most of the abandoned projects in Melaka, such as the monorail and land reclamation projects, are private initiatives awarded to companies interested in investing in Melaka.
“Perhaps they did not have the financial capacity after going through several periods of global economic downturn, which caused the projects to be abandoned,” he said.
However, Ab Rauf stressed that he was not interested in blaming previous administrations, saying his priority was to identify the problems and find ways to revive the stalled developments.
“I have promised not to look for someone to blame, and we understand where the problems lie. Perhaps there is no budget or the projects were not managed properly, resulting in them becoming troubled projects,” he said.
He pledged that efforts to revive the abandoned developments would continue in stages, depending on prevailing economic conditions, if BN secured a fresh mandate in the Melaka state election.
Meanwhile, Ab Rauf announced that the BN and PN Melaka manifestos would be launched at 5pm on Friday, Nov 6, at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC).
