Mahathir Mohamad gives green light to Malaysia-Singapore metro link

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday said his country would give the green light to a delayed metro link with neighbouring Singapore to ease major traffic congestion at the border crossing, a major gripe for citizens from both nations. The veteran leader lamented, however, that a breakthrough on other bilateral issues – such as the building of a new bridge – appeared unlikely. He also raised the issue of the price of water Malaysia sells Singapore, a long-standing pet peeve of the 94-year-old leader, who previously held office as prime minister from 1981 to 2003. The metro link announcement, which came after months of deliberation, came only after government officials, industry experts, and stakeholders had reviewed the cost of the project. The 4.2km Rapid Transit System (RTS) will connect Johor Bahru, the capital of the southern Malaysian state of Johor, with Singapore’s Woodlands district. It will link to the Lion City’s extensive metro network. Malaysia signed up to the project during the era of Mahathir’s predecessor Najib Razak, who was defeated in elections last May. It was supposed to be completed in 2024 but is running late because the Mahathir government requested works be suspended as it studied the project’s viability and cost. Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who attended a press conference in Johor Bahru with Mahathir and other cabinet ministers, said the review had yielded significant cost savings. “The total cost of the project is estimated to be 3.16 billion ringgit (US$755 million), which is 1.77 billion ringgit or 36 per cent less than the original cost of 4.93 billion ringgit (US$1.2 billion) had the project continued under the previous administration,” said Loke at the Johor Bahru Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex. Indebted Malaysia dithers on US$1 billion rail project with Singapore Loke said a key reason for the savings was the waiver of “land cost” by the owner of the site in Bukit Chagar, where the Malaysian terminus is to be located. Loke said that the “optimised costs” in construction and railway systems would also grant the Malaysian government “substantial savings”, describing the project as now “more financially viable”. Reports this year said that the parcel of land in Bukit Chagar was privately held by Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Ismail – a critic of Mahathir. The monarch later said he was willing to hand over the land to the government without charge. In the briefing, Mahathir said the land was “owned by the federal government”, and his government had to “sort that out”. Even so, he vowed to push ahead with the project. “We will build this railway, the agreement has been made,” he said. “Half will be built by Singapore, the other half will be built by us.” Loke said the changes had been proposed to Singapore, and the two governments were refining the agreement signed in January 2018. More details will be revealed when the amended agreement is signed “early next year”, added Loke. Singapore’s transport ministry said: “Singapore welcomes Malaysia’s decision to proceed with the project. Both sides are now discussing the changes to the project, which Malaysia is proposing in order to reduce the project cost. As the changes will require amendments to the RTS Link Agreement, the discussions will take some time. Both sides are working hard on this.” The metro link between the two countries has long been seen as a vital solution to traffic gridlock on the Causeway that links them – one of the world’s busiest land crossings. Some 300,000 people use the Causeway daily, most of whom are Malaysians who commute to work in Singapore. The Mahathir administration said soon after it came to power last May that it was keen for the project to continue but needed to find a way to reduce costs owing to the large debt left behind by the Najib administration. Malaysia had earlier agreed to reimburse Singapore around S$600,000 for costs incurred due to the suspension. A decision was expected last month, but the Singapore government granted Malaysia a further one-month extension “in the spirit of bilateral cooperation”, according to Singapore’s transport ministry. The RTS Link was one of two rail projects between the two countries that Mahathir had ordered to be reviewed. The other project, the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail (HSR), was suspended last year. A decision on it is expected by May 2020. What Malaysia’s MRT has to learn from Indonesia’s BRT The metro link is just one of the outstanding bilateral issues between the neighbours, which have a track record of prickly ties – especially during Mahathir’s first turn in power. Many Singaporeans view the second time prime minister as being unnecessarily hawkish towards the city state. On Thursday, Mahathir seized the chance to comment on two issues he has long complained about: Singapore’s stance on maintaining the decades-old price it pays Malaysia for fresh water, and its reluctance to build a new bridge to replace the Causeway. “We are willing to sacrifice our money to support Singapore so that they can buy cheap water for themselves. Now we want to build a bridge to solve our traffic problem. They refuse to have a bridge, I don’t know why,” he said.