However, the international trade and industry minister said PN’s issue with MWEZ, which aims to bring in more than RM100 billion in investments, was transparency over the mega project.
Azmin said PN wanted Melaka to attract high-quality investments that would create high-quality job opportunities for the people, thus improving their standard of living.
“I think the issue is about transparency and the whole process of getting approval.
“We want to make sure that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) issues and the concerns of villagers are addressed,” he told FMT after an event here today.
Recently, Melaka PN chief Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen said PN would review the MWEZ project if it won the election on Saturday, following complaints from fishermen over land reclamation along the state’s coastline.
He said the state government must look after the welfare of these fishermen, adding that development projects that would affect their sources of income should not go ahead.
Rafiq was an executive councillor in the previous Barisan Nasional-led state government, which signed a deal for the first phase of the MWEZ project in April.
The entire project is to be built on 6,070ha of reclaimed land, stretching some 22km from Umbai to Tanjung Bruas.
Earlier this year, Tanjung Kling residents pushed Putrajaya to intervene and prevent MWEZ from proceeding, with an online petition garnering more than 20,000 signatures.
So far, PN and Pakatan Harapan have pledged to review the mega project to some extent, while BN wants to continue with MWEZ.
Azmin also responded to Alor Gajah PKR chief Ginie Lim’s denial of being aligned with him, after she said a reformist’s loyalty would lie with a party’s struggles, not with an individual.
“Okay, I can understand why she has to say that,” Azmin, a former PKR deputy president, said, before departing from the event.
Lim, the former Machap Jaya assemblyman, hit out at Azmin after he said he was “sad” that she had been dropped as a candidate from the election.
“I was made to understand that she was a victim in PKR because she was seen to be aligned with me,” he had said.