[ad_1]
PETALING JAYA: A cabinet minister has denied speculation that government leaders had wanted to name cronies through direct negotiations for the now-canceled high-speed rail link to Singapore.
Instead, the government agreed that any form of the project will be carried out through open tendering, Mustapa Mohamed, the Minister of Economic Affairs, said in a television interview tonight.
“This has been agreed, so speculation that we have chosen the companies (to carry out the project) would not surface,” he said in an interview on Astro Awani.
He added that the government will carry out more detailed studies on any alternative to the HSR, following speculation that Malaysia has accepted an alternative KL-Johor Bharu project with medium-speed trains.
“More detailed studies will be carried out on the future direction of the project, to ensure that any decision made is in the best interest of the nation,” he said.
He added that the decision to allow the Bilateral Agreement with Singapore to expire on December 31 was also based on a detailed study. The government felt that it was better to propose a new model for the project to protect the national interest and save the rakyat money.
Originally, the HSR KL-Singapore project will be carried out through an Assets Company (Assets Co) model. AssetsCo was reported to have meant that a top-tier industry player will be appointed through an open and transparent international tender to supply the train system, operate the network, and ensure proper priority is given to cross-border HSR service vis -a-vis Malaysian domestic service.
AssetsCo would also be accountable to both governments.
Mustapa said the study found that the AssetCo model would have been too expensive, especially while Malaysia was still battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also said that the government will announce the amount of termination compensation to be paid to Singapore following the collapse of the deal once the amount has been finalized.
Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said the republic has so far spent more than S $ 270 million in preparing the HSR project.
Mustapa said the government believed the severance pay amount would be “much less” than that amount. “We are confident that the compensation will be much less than S $ 270 million. And it is not finished. Once it is finalized, the government will announce it to the rakyat, as this is the rakyat money, ”he said.
