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.