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PETALING JAYA: PKR MP Johor Bahru Akmal Nasir has urged the government to clarify the “real” cost the country has to bear for the cancellation of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.
He said the termination would cost taxpayers a whopping 310 million ringgit, and that amount does not include other costs.
“There were unofficial sources that said the compensation would amount to RM700 million. Businesses are not surviving and people cannot find jobs during this pandemic, and now we have to bear this great cost, ”Akmal said in a statement today.
He added that the money would be better used to help people and jumpstart the economy.
“For example, the RM310 million can be used to provide laptops and computers to 150,000 college students and students who need devices for online classes.”
Yesterday, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said that Malaysia has to compensate the republic for the costs it has incurred as part of its obligations under the bilateral agreement.
FMT previously reported that Malaysia would have to pay Singapore around RM320 million.
Akmal also urged the government to confirm the authenticity of reports that the replacement of the HSR, a medium-speed KL-JB railway, will cost between RM63 billion and RM65 billion, which is not far from the cost of the original HSR.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak had said that Singapore’s exclusion from a high-speed rail line would make the project unsustainable. Without Singapore, the number of passengers using the line is expected to drop from 8.4 million a year to just 4.2 million a year by 2031.
