Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has revealed that the country may cancel the project to construct the East Coast Railway Line (ECRL) with China if renegotiations fail.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting on June 6, the PM said that the ECRL is so costly for Malaysia, with its contract containing many unreasonable terms, including that on payment.
He stated that Malaysia wants to renegotiate the project to ensure Malaysia will not spend too much money, adding that the government is still considering the contract and a final decision has yet to be made.
The 66 billion ringgit (16.6 billion USD) ECRL project aims to build a 668km railway connecting Malaysia’s biggest port of Klang in Selangor with the border of Thailand. Currently, the project has been completed by nearly 20 percent. If Malaysia cancels it, the country may have to pay 22 billion ringgit (about 5.53 billion USD) as compensation.
Earlier, the Finance Ministry of Malaysia discovered some problems in a 9.4 billion ringgit (2.36 billion USD) contract with China to build oil pipe line. Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that two projects – the long-distance pipeline MPP and trans-Sabah gas pipeline project (TSGP) have been completed by only 13 percent, but nearly 88 percent of their value has been paid.
Contracts of the two projects were signed in 2016 between Malaysia and China. Minister Lim said that the projects were reported to the Malaysia’s anti-corruption committee last week. The cases were also reported to PM Mahathir Mohamad.-VNA
Speaking after a cabinet meeting on June 6, the PM said that the ECRL is so costly for Malaysia, with its contract containing many unreasonable terms, including that on payment.
He stated that Malaysia wants to renegotiate the project to ensure Malaysia will not spend too much money, adding that the government is still considering the contract and a final decision has yet to be made.
The 66 billion ringgit (16.6 billion USD) ECRL project aims to build a 668km railway connecting Malaysia’s biggest port of Klang in Selangor with the border of Thailand. Currently, the project has been completed by nearly 20 percent. If Malaysia cancels it, the country may have to pay 22 billion ringgit (about 5.53 billion USD) as compensation.
Earlier, the Finance Ministry of Malaysia discovered some problems in a 9.4 billion ringgit (2.36 billion USD) contract with China to build oil pipe line. Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that two projects – the long-distance pipeline MPP and trans-Sabah gas pipeline project (TSGP) have been completed by only 13 percent, but nearly 88 percent of their value has been paid.
Contracts of the two projects were signed in 2016 between Malaysia and China. Minister Lim said that the projects were reported to the Malaysia’s anti-corruption committee last week. The cases were also reported to PM Mahathir Mohamad.-VNA
VNA
