The HSR project was postponed in a bid to reduce Malaysia’s ballooning debt of more than RM1 trillion.
Malaysia’s new government confirmed that it has not yet informed Singapore of its decision to postpone the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.
In an interview with Channel NewsAsia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said “it’s not so urgent” to inform Singapore of its decision.
More: High Speed Rail Not Scrapped, Just Postponed: Mahathir
“Sometimes we make public statements without actually finalising the process. When we want to make a decision we don’t wait until we inform Singapore, we just say something. Of course they would want to know, and we will inform them in time,” he explained.
The Malaysian government decided to postpone the HSR project in a bid to reduce its ballooning debt of more than RM1 trillion.
Last month, Singapore said it was still waiting for the official notification from Malaysia regarding its decision on the project.
The 92-year-old leader believes that problems between the two countries that may arise from the decision could be resolved.
“I think whether we like it or not, Singapore is our closest neighbour and we have a common history. Whether we like it or not, we have to live with each other. There will be little problems, conflicts and all that, (but) we’ll resolve them.”
Meanwhile, Malaysia will review the “ridiculous” prices at which the country is selling water to the city-state, which currently stands at RM0.03 per thousand gallons.
“That was okay way back in the 1990s or 1930s. But now what can you buy with (RM0.03)? Nothing,” noted Mahathir.
With this, he revealed plans to study Malaysia’s agreement with Singapore and make a presentation on the water accord, which is slated to expire in 2061.
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Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
