Putrajaya will take back RTS land in Johor, says Dr Mahathir

Mohd Farhan Darwis Timothy Achariam Mohd Farhan Darwis, Timothy Achariam Updated 7 years ago · Published on 3 May 2019 7:47PM · 7 Comments

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the government will reclaim land meant for the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) between Johor Baru and Singapore that has been transferred to the state ruler. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin, May 3, 2019.

PUTRAJAYA will reclaim the land meant for the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) between Johor Baru and Singapore that had been allegedly transferred to the Johor sultan, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

If necessary, the federal government will pay to buy off the land from the ruler, he added.

“As far as we know, we have no full knowledge of the matter. We heard that the sultan has taken over the land. We don’t know of any payment made.

“But if he had paid, we will buy it back. If not, we will just reclaim the land,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

A source earlier today told The Malaysian Insight that the land transfer to the sultan was discovered in minutes on a report on the land’s status. The 4.5ha plot is located at Bukit Chagar in Johor Baru.

“The land was planned for use as site of the RTS link but because of this issue, it will delay the process of building the RTS between Johor and Singapore,”  the source said.

The biggest problem will be cost as the federal government will have to incur additional spending on land acquisition, the source said.

Dr Mahathir also said that there was no tension between Putrajaya and the Johor palace when asked if this issue would reignite a feud between the two parties.

“There’s no tension? What tension?” he said.

Dr Mahathir, however, said the RM4 billion RTS link was not a priority project at the moment as Malaysia was still reviewing the project for more affordable and sustainable alternatives.

He said Malaysia and Singapore had mutually agreed to suspend the project for six months, which ends in September.

“We have agreed to take six months to review the project, whether to continue it or turn to other alternatives.

“The RTS will not fully resolve traffic congestion between Malaysia and Singapore.”

The 4.2km RTS was meant to provide seamless connectivity between Johor Baru and Singapore’s Woodlands by transporting 72,000 passengers a day and shorten clearance time at the Customs and Immigration checkpoint.

But early last month when Malaysia and Singapore held the 9th bilateral Leaders’ Summit, Dr Mahathir said both he and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong had agreed that the RTS would not be a comprehensive solution to traffic congestion. – May 3, 2019.

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Comments

  • So rich already...

    Posted 7 years ago by James Wong · Reply

  • Why is the government so inept in dealing with potential frauds or implementing large scale projects?

    Posted 7 years ago by Vickers T · Reply

  • The PH Government is Right by taking back what belongs to Putrajaya. Its not matter of rich or large scale project!

    Posted 7 years ago by Tj Gill · Reply

  • The Royalty is losing on public opinion.

    Posted 7 years ago by Chean Ang Heng · Reply

  • How in the first place could this have happened? The matter should be investigated thoroughly and if any civil servant is implicated, severe action should be taken. I have heard of how land can be fraudulently transferred, but this is a very special case.

    Posted 7 years ago by Ravinder Singh · Reply

  • Relationship between Johore and Putrajaya went down another two notches >>> Interesting interesting interesting

    Posted 7 years ago by SWEE KEONG TAI · Reply

  • Rule of law reigns!

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply