By Syauqi Jamil
KUALA LUMPUR: Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali remains optimistic as talks on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project resumes yesterday.
Although the discussion with Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan have yet to reach any form of conclusion, Azmin expressed his confidence that a mutual resolution is within their reach.
“It was a thorough and detailed discussion. We are optimistic of a win-win resolution soon,” said Azmin in his Facebook posting, accompanied by a picture of him shaking hands with Khaw.
This was the second meeting between Azmin and Khaw, with the first being held earlier this month.
It has been speculated that the 350km rail project, started by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government would cease when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition had took over after winning GE14 in May.
However, Putrajaya had decided to defer the project rather than cancelling it altogether, albeit the project cost which was estimated to be at RM110 billion.
This was after Azmin had accumulated the total along with other newly discovered ‘hidden costs’.
The amount varies significantly in compared to the previous estimation of between RM54 billion and RM74 billion by the BN administration.
The project is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2026.
