resume the expressway project, the federal government decided to fund the expressway project themselves and once again approached MTD Group as the new concessionaire company for the East Coast Expressway. A letter of intention was sent by the federal government to MTD Group on 1 March 2000, and the new concession contract was signed on 17 January 2001. MTD Group was chosen as the new concessionaire company for being able to offer the lowest construction cost for the expressway project. The construction of the East Coast Expressway began shortly afterwards. However, the construction of the expressway was only limited to the first phase from Karak to Kuantan, as the new state government of Terengganu led by Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) who took over the state from Barisan Nasional during the 1999 General Election, strongly opposed the toll collection of the expressway and insisted on building their own version of the East Coast Expressway without toll collection. The abolishment of toll collection in Terengganu became the primary manifesto of PAS during the election. On the other hand, the Minister of Works at that time, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu insisted that toll collection was needed, claiming that the federal government could not afford to fully fund the East Coast Expressway without toll collection. In the end, the construction of the Terengganu section by PAS state government ultimately did not materialise at all. The East Coast Expressway Phase 1 from Karak to Kuantan was opened to motorists on 1 August 2004, with the total cost of RM1.3 billion, which was translated to RM7.5 million per kilometre. The expressway was gazetted with the route number of E8, as a continuation of the Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway E8/FT2. The second part of Phase 1, the Sri Jaya and Jabur was opened in July 2007. Phase 2 (Jabor–Kuala Terengganu, 2003–2015) The East Coast Expressway Phase 2 extends the expressway to Kuala Terengganu, serving as the alternative for both Federal Route 3 and Jerangau–Jabor Highway FT14. The construction of the second phase of the East Coast Expressway E8 began in 2006 as a result of the Barisan Nasional takeover of Terengganu state government from PAS during the 2004 general election. Unlike the first phase of the expressway where MTD Group became the only contractor (and concessionaire company), MTD was only allocated about 30% of the construction job for the second phase, from Bukit Besi to Telemung (Package 10),