Minister insists HSR cancellation 'best solution' for M'sia
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mustapa Mohamed today defended Malaysia's move to terminate the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, amid concerns raised over any long-term losses.
Taking to Facebook, the minister in charge of economic affairs maintained that cancelling the multi-billion project is the "best solution" for Malaysia as it faced financial constraints in times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The HSR project has been suspended since May 2018 for renegotiations and it...
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mustapa Mohamed today defended Malaysia's move to terminate the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, amid concerns raised over any long-term losses.
Taking to Facebook, the minister in charge of economic affairs maintained that cancelling the multi-billion project is the "best solution" for Malaysia as it faced financial constraints in times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The HSR project has been suspended since May 2018 for renegotiations and it was reported that both governments were unable to reach an agreement over changes proposed by Malaysia as of Dec 31, last year, the end of its extended suspension period.
Mustapa said this was despite intense negotiations carried out in the last six months at the ministerial and technical level, as well as a video conference between Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"As an individual directly involved with the two-way negotiations since six months ago, I wish to stress that we have done our best to protect the nation's interest.
"However, I would like to share with all of you that the bilateral discussions went on in a friendly and constructive matter," the Jeli MP said in a statement.
Financial-daily The Edge previously quoted a source who said Malaysia is set to pay Singapore RM300 million in compensation for the cancellation but Mustapa today maintained the final amount - comprising costs spent by Singapore so far - has yet to be determined.
"We are waiting for the details of the cost from Singapore, and as soon as we receive it, we will scrutinise and confirm it.
"The types of permissible claims have been agreed by both parties," said the former international trade and investment minister under BN's era.
Mustapa said both countries are bound by a confidentiality clause under the present agreement, but Malaysia will discuss with Singapore to seek permission for the disclosure of the compensation amount to be paid.
"Therefore, any figure already said to be the amount of compensation is strictly just a speculation," he stressed.
Similarly, Mustapa dismissed reports of the cross-border project being replaced with a domestic high-speed rail link from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru, adding the government will conduct detailed research to determine its future move.
Previously, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and former transport minister Anthony Loke have called on the government to be more transparent over the termination of the HSR agreement.
Loke urged the government to be transparent on how much compensation will be paid to Singapore, while Najib called on Putrajaya to come clean on plans to build an HSR from Kuala Lumpur to Johor.
