Will Kelantanese be Richer.

The Malaysian government is going to build a 300km crude oil pipeline costing some USD7Billion ( RM24Billion ) from Kedah to Kelantan.

The proposed pipeline will string across three states linking Yan in Kedah to Bachok in Kelantan with an expected investment of some USD7Billion over a period of 8 years, involving the construction of two oil refineries.

The pipe enables ships to bypass the Straits of Malacca. These ships will use import facilities on the West Coast of the Peninsular for oil from the Middle East and Africa to be piped to an export terminal in the East Coast, where the oil will be loaded onto ships bound for East Asia.

Thus it may be seen as an attempt not only to trigger economic growth and development in the region in the near future but the trickle down effect will be there long after our own oil dry up, provided the cost of double handling and taking into account of the time involved to bypass Singapore is cheaper than going via Singapore.