Putrajaya to terminate ECRL project, says Chinese daily

Replica of trains for the East Coast Rail Link project are shown to the public at the Expo Terengganu 2018. -Bernama filepic

PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya has decided to terminate the 688km East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) project, a Chinese daily reported.

On Thursday (Jan 24), Sin Chew quoted a cabinet source as saying that this had been determined during Wednesday's (Jan 23) Cabinet meeting.

However, Cabinet did not discuss the issue of compensation with the contractor, China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC), the sourse said.

It is understood that the government is still in discussion with CCCC on the compensation amount.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir reportedly denied knowledge of the termination.

The report came a day after Singapore's The Straits Times reported that Malaysia was seeking a new contractor to build the ECRL, after terminating the original contract awarded to CCCC on Tuesday (Jan 22).

The report said Putrajaya was seeking to halve the estimated project cost of RM81bil to RM40bil.

In response, Gerakan vice-president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said Putrajaya owed an explanation to the people of Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan for cancelling the project