LGE: Gag order in place while ECRL is still being negotiated

PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has issued a gag order while negotiations on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) are ongoing.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the matter was discussed during Wednesday's meeting (Jan 30) and it had adopted a stance that only Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would speak on the matter.

“This is a G2G (government-to-government) discussion, and it should be held away from the public glare.

“The official statement will be released when it is ready. And no other ministers are allowed to make any statements on the matter, but the Prime Minister,” said Lim at a press conference at the Finance Ministry here.

On Tuesday, Dr Mahathir said no final decision had been made regarding the ECRL project as negotiations were still underway.

He said some decisions were made but the government was looking to find a better solution.

The Prime Minister also said Malaysia was seeking understanding from all parties as the government had to cut back on some of the expenditure incurred by the previous administration.

It has been reported that the government is looking for a new contractor after allegedly terminating the contract awarded to China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) to build the RM81bil mega rail project.