Loke Najib Call For Govt To Be Transparent On Hsr Cancellation

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Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and former transport minister Anthony Loke have called on the government to be more transparent, following the termination of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) agreement.
Loke wants the government to be transparent on how much compensation will be paid to Singapore, while Najib wants Putrajaya to come clean on plans to build an HSR from Kuala Lumpur to Johor.
Putrajaya terminated the HSR agreement with Singapore, citing unfavourable economic conditions following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, Loke said the government must announce how much compensation will be paid out.
"The government must be transparent and announce to the people how much must be paid to Singapore, and what is the total cost spent by the MyHSR company which has been shouldered by taxpayers since 2016," he said.
De facto economy minister Mustapa Mohamed said both countries are determining the amount of compensation.
Business portal The Edge Markets estimated that the termination would cost Malaysian taxpayers in the region of RM300 million.
Mustapa said Malaysia will now consider whether to proceed with a domestic-only version of the HSR.
Commenting on this, Najib - who was instrumental in getting the project underway when he was prime minister - urged the government to explain itself.
"The Perikatan Nasional government should be transparent in this issue without using the economy or Covid-19 as excuses, as many local and foreign media have reported a lot of information from sources regarding the project's direction," he posted on Facebook.
Among others, he asked whether the Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru HSR will be announced in three months and whether a private operations firm and technology provider had been appointed without tender.
He also asked what the cost difference will be and whether the government would bear any losses suffered by the rail operator due to lower ridership.


In a separate post earlier, Najib lamented that cancelling the HSR to Singapore had resulted in trillions in opportunity cost for Malaysia over the next 50 years.
Meanwhile, Loke rubbished the need for a local HSR from Kuala Lumpur to Johor.
The Seremban MP said there is already an existing KTM rail line between the two cities.
He added that an RM10 billion double-tracking project from Gemas, Negeri Sembilan to Johor Bahru is already underway, and once completed, can serve as KTM's Electric Train Service (ETS).
"Even though the ETS is not as fast as the HSR, but to me, it is sufficient for domestic service.
"The government only needs to ensure enough trains to increase frequency," he said.
He added that focus should be on completing other projects such as expanding KTM's cargo capacity, the MRT 3 project in the Klang Valley, and the BRT in Johor Bahru.
The KTM Workers' Union, in a brief statement, announced support for Loke's remarks. - Mkini

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