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KUALA LUMPUR – The completion of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project has sparked strong reactions in Malaysia, with two state governments urging the government to continue the project, while members of the public clamor for more details on what went wrong.
Some said that while Covid-19 was partly to blame for the termination, as the government needed to divert funds to fight the pandemic, the multi-billion dollar project would have helped local economies recover faster from the deep depression.
Several called on the Malaysian government to respond to Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung’s explanation in Parliament on Monday (Jan 4) that the Republic could not accept Malaysia’s proposal to eliminate Assets Company (AssetsCo) , the system provider and network operator of the project, as constituted. a “fundamental deviation” from the original agreement.
In Melaka state, where an HSR station was to be built, Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali said the project’s cancellation has slightly affected a planned economic corridor to link the planned Ayer Keroh station to an economic zone across the Straits of Malacca. .
“Before this, we were confident that if the HSR has its station in Melaka, it will definitely be a hub that can provide abundant benefits for everyone,” Datuk Seri Sulaiman told reporters on Sunday.
The KL-Singapore HSR project was terminated after Malaysia allowed the bilateral agreement to expire on the December 31, 2020 deadline.
Johor, which could have had three HSR stations under the plan, expects the government to continue with HSR, with the Kuala Lumpur line ending at Johor Baru, Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad said.
“Among the things we hope in Johor is that the HSR project will proceed even if it does not include Singapore,” he told reporters last Saturday.
There has been media speculation about a revised alignment of the HSR line, with the Johor Baru terminal terminating near the JB-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) station. The 4 km RTS Link is expected to be completed by 2026, linking Johor Baru’s Bukit Chagar Station with Singapore’s Woodlands North MRT Station.
Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who participated in the HSR discussions, said that among the changes Malaysia was seeking was a new structure that would allow the government to avoid giving a guarantee of RM60 billion (S $ 19.7 billion). ) for the project, for a period of 30 years.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, the government is forced to find ways to reduce the cost of various mega-projects while ensuring economic recovery, he wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “These developments resulted in the original terms, which were signed under bilateral agreements in 2016, were no longer viable for Malaysia,” he said.
Multiple people left comments on the post asking Mustapa to respond to Ong’s explanation of AssetsCo.
Meanwhile, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also took to Facebook on Monday to comment on the issue.
He said: “In the past, when I worked on this project, I deliberately wanted both countries to be responsible for the success of the project so that irregularities could be reduced or avoided.
“But the approach of the PN government (Perikatan Nasional) is quite different. They want to select the contractors and suppliers for the project directly without the intervention of Singapore. ”
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