The Malaysian authorities has yet to decide whether or not or not to resume the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed rail (HSR) project, provided that the project stays in its early phases, Bernama has reported.
According to minister within the prime minister’s division Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, the project was cancelled after the bilateral settlement on the project had lapsed on December 31, 2020. Mustapa nonetheless famous throughout a gathering between prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Singpaore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong {that a} proposal was raised for the renegotiation of the KL-Singapore HSR project.
“In response, the prime minister of Singapore expressed openness to fresh proposals from Malaysia on the HSR project. I would like to stress that the possibility of reviving the KL-Singapore HSR project is still in the early stages of discussion,” Mustapa stated in response to a query by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng throughout the minister’s query time phase in Dewan Rakyat.
In phrases of the project’s price, estimates made by Malaysia below the HSR 2.0 (New) mannequin that’s being proposed see the most recent iteration costing far lower than these of HSR 1.0 and HSR 2.0, Mustapa stated.
“Under the HSR 2.0 (New) model submitted to Singapore, Malaysia proposed to abolish AssetCo (a private entity to be jointly overseen by both Malaysian and Singaporean governments). Singapore did not agree with the proposal. With that, the bilateral agreement signed on December 13, 2016 was terminated,” Mustapa stated.
In mild of the cancellation of the KL-Singapore HSR, the Malaysian authorities has determined to conduct a feasibility examine on the KL-Iskandar HSR project. The examine that commenced in February 2021 had been accomplished, and could be offered to Cabinet within the close to future for its subsequent transfer, the minister added.
Mustapa additionally defined that since 2013, all negotiations involving the HSR project had been led by the minister within the prime minister’s division (Economy) and the financial affairs minister, including that the Cabinet determined in mid-2020 that he ought to helm the negotiations with Singapore for the finalising of the project.
“At this time, the government is still in the process of transferring MyHSR Corporation, the special purpose vehicle established to negotiate technical matters involving the HSR project from the purview of the prime minister’s department to the transport ministry. Therefore, all further discussions and negotiations on the project’s direction will be handled by the transport ministry,” Mustapa stated.
