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M'sia has not ruled out going ahead with KL-S'pore HSR, says minister ahead of meeting with Khaw

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has not excluded the possibility that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project could go ahead, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said on Wednesday (July 18), pending his meeting with Singapore's Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the end of this month.

The concept design for the Iskandar Puteri station in Johor along the planned Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail line. Malaysia says the estimated S$37.03 billion cost for the project includes expenses and items not disclosed by the previous administration.

The concept design for the Iskandar Puteri station in Johor along the planned Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail line. Malaysia says the estimated S$37.03 billion cost for the project includes expenses and items not disclosed by the previous administration.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has not excluded the possibility that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project could go ahead, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said on Wednesday (July 18), pending his meeting with Singapore's Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the end of this month.

“Any party that wants to cancel the project can do so because it is allowed by the agreement, but it must be based on the terms of the agreement. All options including reducing the cost, cancelling the project or deferring it, are available to us. So we will table it and discuss with them," The Edge Markets quoted him as saying.

“(However,) we have not excluded the possibility of the project going on, but (we) are not making any suggestion unless there is a consensus from both countries.”
 
Mr Azmin had earlier told Parliament that Malaysia will discuss with Singapore on how to proceed with the HSR, but stressed that Putrajaya is committed to ensuring that talks with the Republic will be conducted in accordance with the law and in a manner which upholds diplomatic relations between the two countries. No specific date has been given for the meeting between the two sides.

"I wish to stress that any agreement which is made must be fair and just to both parties,” he added.

The HSR project, first proposed by Malaysia in 2013, is a 350km line that would have slashed rail travel time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.

But its fate has been uncertain since Malaysia’ new Pakatan Harapan government won the May 9 election, with the country’s new Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and some of his cabinet ministers vowing to scrap the project in order to trim Putrajaya’s RM1 trillion debt.

Adding to the confusion, Dr Mahathir subsequently said that his government intended to “postpone” the project and would speak to their Singapore counterparts.

Mr Khaw said Singapore had sent a diplomatic note to Malaysia on June 1 seeking clarification on its position on the HSR project. But Singapore has yet to receive a reply, he added.

Meanwhile, Singapore continues to incur cost on the project, with expenditure expected to hit some S$300 million by year-end, Mr Khaw told Parliament on July 9, warning that a “significant” amount of the funds spent would be “completely wasted” if the project was called off.

Mr Azmin on Wednesday also said the Malaysian government’s estimated RM110 billion (S$37.03 billion) cost for the HSR project includes expenses and items not disclosed by the previous administration.

He accused the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government of a cover-up in its previous claims that the project would cost between RM55 billion to RM74 billion, when responding to a question from Ayer Hitam Member of Parliament Wee Ka Siong.

“The cost that Ayer Hitam raised was RM55 billion but among many things there were hidden costs that the previous government did not disclose to the public. So the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is disclosing the entire cost of the project.

“We need to ascertain whether the government can afford this project under the current economic situation.”

Mr Wee has asked Mr Azmin to state how the PH government arrived at the RM110 billion figure as opposed to the cost previously projected by BN.

Former prime minister Najib Razak also disputed the accuracy of the figure by pointing out that the international tender process was not yet complete.

“The fact of the matter is the international tender for the project will only be closed on December 28 this year. So we don’t even know how much the project will cost us and we know if it’s an international tender, it will be very competitive.

“We will have nations giving loans at 0 per cent or 0.1 per cent rates. I want to know, how can the minister state the price is RM110 billion when the tender has not closed yet,” asked Najib, who oversaw the deal.

Mr Azmin then replied that the RM110 billion figure was an estimate of the entire project cost and the government’s decision was based upon the advice given by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. AGENCIES

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