MALAYSIA is not out to frustrate China or renege on its contracts, but wants to cut back on expenses it cannot afford, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We are burdened by very heavy debts and have to cut back on some expenditures incurred by the previous government
“It is not that we don’t want to honour our contracts, but we just cannot pay. This contract may cost us more than RM100 billion and will impoverish us.
“As such, we seek the understanding of the parties concerned.
“We don’t want to frustrate or throw out a contract, but we are really tight in terms of finance,” Dr Mahathir told reporters after launching the National Anti-Corruption Plan in Putrajaya this morning.
He was responding to a question on the reason for conflicting announcements from Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali on the status of the East Coast Rail Link project.
Dr Mahathir, however, declined to confirm whether ECRL has been cancelled.
“The finance minister will give a clear explanation of what happened.
“Sometimes, ministers make announcements before they are due. I admit some mistakes were made and we will correct them,” said Dr Mahathir.
The 93-year-old said that the compensation Malaysia needs to pay China for cancelling the project is not as high as the costs for the project itself.
“The huge compensation that is due is not as huge as the debt we will carry for the next 30 years,” said Dr Mahathir, to the question of whether Malaysia needed to compensate China for cancelling ECRL. – January 29, 2019.
Comments
Posted 5 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by Tharan Singh · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by Tharan Singh · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by Tharan Singh · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by Duh Duh · Reply