Singapore — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore is open to rediscussing the previously terminated Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project after meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Monday (Nov 29).

The HSR project had entailed a 350 km rail line with seven stations, expected to cut travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes compared to the current estimated four hours by car and about three to five hours (including travel to and from the airport, check-in process, boarding, and other airport procedures) by air.

In their recent meeting, Mr Lee said that both countries would further discuss the matter, with Singapore open to fresh proposals.

“The prime minister and I also discussed the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail, and the prime minister suggested reviving discussions on the HSR,” said Mr Lee in a Channel News Asia report.

“I responded to the prime minister that Singapore and Malaysia had previously reached an agreement to terminate the HSR projects, and this has been amicably settled and closed. Nevertheless, Singapore is open to fresh proposals from Malaysia on the HSR project.”

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Mr Lee also took to Facebook to announce their meeting.

“PM Ismail and I have chatted a few times over the phone since he took office in August, and I am glad we could finally meet in person,” said Mr Lee on Monday.

“PM Ismail and I had a good discussion about our many areas of cooperation. I look forward to working with him to deepen our longstanding and multi-faceted friendship,” he added.

Among their discussions was the HSR Project which was terminated earlier this year.

“The emergence of Covid-19 has forced the government to find ways to reduce the cost of several mega projects as well as identify strategies to restore the country’s economy post-Covid-19,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed in January this year.

He noted that the project’s termination was the “best solution for Malaysia.”

Malaysia and Singapore, represented by then Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, entered a legally-binding bilateral agreement on the project in Putrajaya in December 2016.

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However, after several discussions, both countries could not reach an agreement before the Dec 31, 2020 deadline, which was the final extension for discussions.

As a result, Malaysia “has to compensate Singapore for costs already incurred by Singapore in fulfilling its obligations under the HSR project in accordance with the parties’ agreement,” said Singapore’s Ministry of Transport.

Then Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore had spent more than S$270 million on the project, including consultancy services and manpower costs.

Meanwhile, Mr Mustapa expressed confidence that the compensation cost would be much lower than S$270 million.

To date, Malaysia has already paid Singapore S$15 million due to delays in project development.

Singapore is now looking forward to receiving more details from Malaysia “so we can study them and consider the matter again, starting from a clean slate,” Mr Lee said.

/TISG

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ByHana O