PM ‘yet to inform Singapore officially on HSR plans’

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has yet to issue an official notice to Singapore on its plans for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, but the neighbouring country is aware of what the government wants, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said Malaysia must be careful when making announcements regarding the project as some quarters, including the financial markets, could react negatively.

“As far as the Singapore government is concerned, we have not given them full notice, but they know what we want to do,” Dr Mahathir said.

He was speaking at a media conference yesterday at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here, where he led a delegation of Pakatan Harapan MPs to attend a special briefing.

He was asked to comment on Singapore’s Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s statement on Monday that the republic was waiting for Malaysia’s official response to its diplomatic note seeking clarification on the HSR project.

Dr Balakrishnan had told Singapore’s Parliament that the republic continued to incur costs on the project as it was still meeting its obligations under an agreement with Malaysia while waiting for Malaysia to clarify its position.

Dr Mahathir, soon after he was sworn-in as Prime Minister, had announced that the HSR project would be cancelled as it was an “unnecessary project”.

However, he later told a Japanese publication that the country was merely postponing the project due to the national debt, which was said to be RM1 trillion.

Last month, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Government would consider reviving the HSR project sometime in the future.