'There are many projects that are being reviewed at the moment,' he said yesterday.

These projects are part of the RM200 billion (S$86 billion) Ninth Malaysia Plan launched in 2006 as Datuk Seri Abdullah's efforts to fulfil his development pledges.

The five-year plan is due for a scheduled mid-term review this year.

The Premier had also launched, in the period leading to last month's general election, five ambitious development corridors all over the country to boost growth.

He did not provide the details of the projects under review yesterday.

Under the five-year plan, the big projects include a monorail for Penang, a second low-cost carrier terminal, a satellite building and new runway for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport as well as the construction of double tracks for the railway across the country.

The review is believed to be prompted by the rise in construction costs worldwide and the shift in priority to agriculture and food security following global shortages, analysts say.

Last week, the government announced a RM4 billion plan to boost food production, including growing rice on a large scale in Sarawak.

There is speculation that the projects could be shelved after the Barisan Nasional (BN) fared badly in the March 8 polls, including poor performances in the most industrialised states, where these projects are located.

But Datuk Seri Abdullah has pledged that such projects would not be scrapped.

The second Penang bridge is among the biggest projects on the government's drawing board.

Costing RM4.3 billion, the 24km bridge will link the southern part of the island to the mainland.

State-owned UEM Group and its consortium partner China Harbour Engineering, which had been awarded the contract, were recently given an extra nine months beyond the 2011 scheduled completion date for the job.

Datuk Seri Abdullah said the delay was due to problems over land acquisition, design and rising building costs.

'There is a need to ensure that the given design is the most suitable, and there is also the issue of cost, where there may be changes due to increased prices,' he said.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is from the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), said he was 'shocked' by the announcement of the bridge's delay.

'Two weeks ago, when I met the Prime Minister, he assured me that the second Penang bridge will continue,' said Mr Lim, who is the DAP's secretary-general.

He also said that if the federal government, which is led by the BN, took a 'not to discuss' attitude or did not give the state government due attention, Penang would be forced to think of alternatives.

A fund manager said Datuk Seri Abdullah's comments yesterday could stoke investor worries.

'More likely than not, it will be taken negatively because things are still very fragile,' Mr Raymond Tang, chief investment officer of CIMB- Principal Asset Management, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

But Mr Phua Lee Kerk, chief executive of a unit trust fund, said it may not necessarily be negative if the move is to curb budget overruns and prevent overspending.

'Rising cost is a global issue,' he said.

carolynh@sph.com.sg