Exclusive | Malaysia’s Mahathir: green light for China-backed East Coast Rail Link – if price is right
- In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, the Malaysian leader says the troubled project could still go ahead
- But only if the Chinese contractor agrees to a significant reduction on the US$13 billion price tag
Doing so could be cheaper than cancelling the project, which would incur a hefty penalty, the prime minister told the South China Morning Post in his first interview with foreign media this year.
Soon after his election victory last May, Mahathir had said the 688km rail link – to have cost some 55 billion ringgit (US$13 billion) – needed to be cancelled because it was unnecessary and too expensive given the huge sovereign debt his predecessor Najib Razak had saddled the country with.
In the ensuing 10 months his government has given conflicting signals on the project. Earlier this year Mahathir walked back comments by his Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali who had told the media the cabinet had made a final decision to cancel the project.
Mahathir said that negotiations with the contractor, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), were continuing with involvement from both governments.
Since Azmin’s comments, all officials except Mahathir have been barred from publicly commenting on the talks.
The top negotiator on the Malaysian side is Daim Zainuddin, Mahathir’s long-time confidante and a former finance minister.
