PUTRAJAYA: The government is still in the midst of renegotiating the East Cost Railway Link (ECRL) project.
This is the reason why Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad refused to elaborate on the status of the project at present.
“I cannot say what is happening (relating to the ECRL). (We) have to wait for the results.
“For how long one has to wait? (If possible) as soon as possible,” Dr Mahathir told reporters after chairing the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council meeting today.
The prime minister also declined to comment on the possibility of Malaysia considering to accept China’s offer to nearly halve the cost of ECRL of US$20 billion (RM81 billion).
It was reported that the conflicting statements made over the past week on the status of the ECRL had underscored the political and diplomatic challenges facing the government in renegotiating the contract.
Quoting sources, Contractor China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) was reported to have offered to cut construction costs of RM67bil for the 688km project by as much as half.
After coming to power in May last year, Dr Mahathir, a critic of China’s investments in Malaysia, had vowed to renegotiate or cancel what he calls “unfair” Chinese projects authorised by his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and suspended the ECRL in July.
However, on Wednesday (Jan 30), Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng was quoted saying that Malaysia was pursuing more talks with China.
This came days after another minister said the Cabinet had decided to terminate the contract and a day after Dr Mahathir sought China’s understanding over the planned cancellation.
Negotiations have continued since the July suspension, with Malaysia indicating that it was looking for cheaper proposals on what would have been China’s biggest Belt and Road venture in South-East Asia.