PETALING JAYA, May 26 ― Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will find out how it can reduce the amount of money it has to pay to Singapore if it needs to drop the KL-Singapore high-speed rail project.
The 350km rail deal between Singapore and Malaysia was initially inked under former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2016 and is estimated to cost up to RM50 billion.
However, after PH swept into power on May 9, Dr Mahathir that it would be reviewed, alongside a number of other mega projects.
“The terms and agreement for the HSR are such that if we decide to drop the project, it would cost us a lot of money. We have entered into an agreement with Singapore. If we break the agreement, we have to pay a very large sum of money,” Dr Mahathir told The Edge Weekly.
Construction of the HSR which is scheduled to start in 2019, will cut the travelling time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.
The HSR will have a proposed seven stops ― Bandar Malaysia, Bangi-Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, and Iskandar Puteri in Malaysia, and Jurong East in Singapore.
