PUTRAJAYA’S successful renegotiation with China on the East Coast Rail Link(ECRL) did not include the hunt for wanted businessman Low Taek Jho, who is suspected to be in the country, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

However, the prime minister said Malaysia did bring up the issue of China sourcing more palm oil from Malaysia during the talks.

“We are taking advantage of the signing of the agreement to work out the purchase of palm oil from China; that will happen.

“It has nothing to do with Mr Jho Low but, of course, we will seek the help of the Chinese government if he is at all in China,” he told a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya today.

On whether the previous government had deliberately inflated the cost of the ECRL to service the debt obligation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Dr Mahathir said this was a possibility.

He said this was because the project, as negotiated by the previous administration, was overpriced, and the current government managed to reduce the cost by a whopping RM22 billion.

“If the project was tendered out in the usual manner, we would have gotten a better price but this was a lump sum given to a company from China by direct negotiations.”

Under the new deal negotiated by Putrajaya’s special envoy Daim Zainuddin, the cost of the project was reduced to RM44 billion from the initial price of RM65.5 billion.

He added that the Chinese and Malaysian governments have worked well together and were able to establish a mutually beneficial agreement on the project.

Dr Mahathir also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government for taking into account Malaysia’s financial situation and bringing down the cost of the project. – April 15, 2019.