THE entire high-speed railway (HSR) project between Malaysia and Singapore will be reviewed at the end of the month, said Mohamed Azmin Ali. 

The economic affairs minister said he would renegotiate all the components involved which bloated HSR’s costs when he visits Singapore this month. 

“Everything. We will look and revisit all the terms and conditions in the agreement. Everything. The entire project needs to be reviewed,” Azmin told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby. 

“PM has made it very clear today that it’s not about canceling the project. We need to review the entire project,” he added. 

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir earlier today said the HSR project might not be cancelled as earlier speculated and instead be deferred to a later time as Malaysia does not have the funds. 

Azmin added that Malaysia’s main concern was reducing the government debt instead of undertaking projects that cost billions. 

“The priority is quite clear. We want to reduce the debt that we are facing now. So maybe if the project is viable at a later stage then we can discuss. But our priority now one is to cut cost and reduce government debt,” he said. 

Dr Mahathir added that if the project were cancelled, Malaysia will have to pay a huge compensation to Singapore and that was not ideal. – July 19, 2018.