KUANTAN, May 11 — The Pahang government will ensure that landowners affected by the implementation of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project are properly compensated, said state Public Works, Transport and Health Committee chairman Datuk Mohammad Fakhruddin Mohd Ariff.

He said the state government is also making sure that ex-gratia payments are given to villagers and Orang Asli whose income has been affected because their agricultural or caged-fish farming areas are involved in the project.

He said the implementation of the ECRL project involves several phases, with Phase 1 being the acquisition of land along the alignment route, Phase 2A the acquisition of additional land along the alignment if there is a design change and Phase 2B the acquisition of land for the construction of stations and the access roads to the stations.

"Phase 2B has 204 privately-owned land lots in Kuantan, Maran and Temerloh and 73 government-owned plots that will be involved in the acquisition process. Site visits will be held from May 15 to 18 to confirm the marking of the plots,” he said.

He said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address of the Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah during the Pahang state assembly sitting at Wisma Sri Pahang, here, today.

He also stressed that land acquisition at every stage — pre-, during and post-acquisition — must follow the procedures outlined by the Department of Director General of Lands and Mines (JKPTG).

Commenting on the maintenance of federal roads in Pahang, Mohammad Fakhruddin said the state Public Works Department (JKR) had received an allocation of RM94.5 million from the federal government as of April 15.

"This Phase 1 allocation helped resolve the problem of roads that are most damaged, thus causing inconvenience to users and resulting in property damage, accidents and loss of life.

"A total of 55 maintenance works are being and will be carried out,” he said, adding that the Pahang JKR had received an allocation of RM90 million for the maintenance of state and rural roads.

On the health sector, Mohammad Fakhruddin said 17 physical development projects are being carried out, including the construction of the Sungai Soi Health Clinic in Kuantan and the Bukit Ibam Health Clinic in Rompin, an additional block at Jerantut Hospital and the renovation of the operating theatre at Jengka Hospital.

The sitting continues tomorrow. — Bernama