By Sharen Kaur - July 13, 2023, Published in New Straits Times, NST Business
KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed train (KL-Singapore HSR) project must get underway to help manage Malaysia's RM1.5 trillion debt, said project manager MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Fauzi Abdul Rahman.
The government, Fauzi disclosed today, had decided that both Malaysia and Singapore would revive the project, which was terminated in January 2021 and mooted 22 years ago by YTL Group.
There will be no cost to the government as the HSR would be a public-private partnership, he added.
He said although there are other strategies to increase revenue outside the HSR, it is imperative to start the bullet train project.
"We need to improve the country's productivity and income levels to manage the current RM1.5 trillion national debt. If not, we are in trouble," Fauzi said during a "Teh Tarik" session with the media today.
"The economic situation in our country is not like before. Now that we have that big hole, which is the RM1.5 trillion national debt, that is why we don't want to touch government funding," he added.
MyHSR is seeking concept proposals, via a Request for Information, from the local and international firms for the project.
"The RFI is important to see the response from interested parties. In three months, if there is not enough interest, we will go back to the government. I personally feel, if its not viable, they won't come in at all but there is a lot of interest," he said.
The RFI marks the government's initiative to reactivate the project via new funding mechanisms and implementation models to further improve the rail transport infrastructure and invigorate the economy.
MyHSR chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, said the project is anticipated to increase the country's gross domestic product.
"We don't have an operational target. It depends on the proposal and how much money they are investing to smooth out the construction period. We hope to start construction as soon as possible," he said.
The HSR is a strategic project between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore to facilitate a 90-minute travel time between the two countries.
The project was planned as a 350 km-long double-track route (335 km of which was supposed to be in Malaysia, and 15 km in Singapore) with eight stops - Bandar Malaysia, Sepang-Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka, Muar, Batu Pahat, Iskandar Puteri, and the Jurong East station in Singapore.
On May 2, 2018, the MRCB Gamuda Consortium and YTL-THP were chosen to serve as the project delivery partners for the building of civil works in Malaysia.
The HSR service was expected to start by Dec 31, 2026.
A bridge over the Straits of Joho r- with a height clearance of 25 metres - would have linked the line between both countries.
However, the project was suspended in September 2018, when both parties agreed to postpone the bilateral project estimated to be worth RM110 billion until Dec 31, 2020.
The plan came to an end when the Prime Ministers of both nations declared on Jan 1, 2021 that the agreement for the project had expired, and also because there was a lack of agreement on Malaysia's proposed changes.
The news came as a shock to many who had high hopes for the 350km-long line.
In addition to reducing travel times between the two countries, the train link was projected to generate 111,000 jobs and contribute RM21 billion (S$6.7 billion) in gross domestic product for Malaysia and Singapore by 2060.
No comments:
Post a Comment