Third bridge to Singapore proposed

By Sharen Kaur
sharen@mediaprima.com.my
Published in NST on September 10, 2013

MEETING FUTURE DEMAND: Link to Changi could boost Pengerang and Desaru development

JOHOR BARU: MALAYSIA is studying the possibility of  building  a third link between Johor and Singapore in view of the increasing volume of movement between both countries, says Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof.

The proposed bridge will be the third link between Malaysia and Singapore after the Causeway and the Tanjung Kupang-Tuas Second Link.

Both the Causeway and Second Link are currently heavily utilised because of massive development taking shape in Iskandar Malaysia, where Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd is also involved.

The proposed third bridge was among the key bilateral issues discussed between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, in May 2009.

Najib proposed the bridge linking the eastern side of Johor, from Desaru and Pengerang to Changi in Singapore to facilitate movement of people, goods and services.

It will complement future development in the less-developed Pengerang and Desaru areas.

"We are open to the idea and will study all options. Anyone from the private sector can put up proposals to facilitate us with our decision making," Fadillah said after opening the International Conference on Highways here.

He said if the project was given the go-ahead, it will be implemented on a government-to-government basis as both countries would be involved in the development, with the private sector financing the Malaysian side.

Meanwhile, Construction Industry Development Board chief executive officer Datuk Sri Dr Judin Abdul Karim said total construction value for this year was expected to be RM110 billion compared with RM120 billion last year.

Judin said companies should depend less on government projects as 85 per cent of the country's developments were undertaken by the private sector.