PUTRAJAYA, Jan 24 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he does not know if the Chinese contractor for the China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project had been terminated.

Singapore daily Straits Times (ST) cited an anonymous source in its report yesterday as claiming Putrajaya was looking for a new contractor to build the 688km rail project connecting the Klang Valley to the peninsular east coast after allegedly terminating the contract awarded to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

"I don’t know. I just got back from overseas,” Dr Mahathir told reporters here when asked for verification.

"The way to handle it is to stop the contract, but if we stop the contract, we have to pay billions in compensation,” the PM added.

Government adviser Tun Daim Zainuddin said on Tuesday that Malaysia was still in negotiations with China over the ECRL project.

Shortly after winning the 14th general election last May, the Pakatan Harapan government suspended the China-backed rail project over concerns it was overpriced.