MALAYSIA has not made a final decision whether to continue or call off the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this evening.

He had told reporters earlier today that Putrajaya wanted to cut back on expenses it cannot afford.

“No final decision has been made. Not off yet. No call off, no final decision yet,” Dr Mahathir told the press after he was grilled about the project.

Asked if he could explain the conflicting remarks made by Mohamed Azmin Ali and Lim Guan Eng, Dr Mahathir shifted blamed the media for misinterpretation.

“There is no conflicting information but the media said it differently.

“What happened was both Azmin and Lim were correct but the timing was wrong. The cabinet minister was saying something else and the media said it something else,” he added.

Speaking further, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia and China will come up with solution.

“Both sides will come up with a solution and Lim Guan Eng will make the announcement when he has completed his negotiation.

This morning, Dr Mahathir said Putrajaya was not out to frustrate China or renege on its contracts.

“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.

Last Saturday, Azmin, who is the economic affairs minister, said the ECRL was cancelled because the country could not afford the RM500 million annual interest on the project.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, when asked about the announcement, said he was surprised to learn that Azmin had made such announcement stating that the PKR deputy president was not present during the last cabinet meeting on Thursday. – January 29, 2019.