THE high-speed railway (HSR) project might be deferred to a later time, as Malaysia does not have the funds to pay for it, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The prime minister said Malaysia won’t be able to afford the project even if the cost were reduced significantly.

“At the moment, we look at the financial situation of the country. We thought we couldn’t go ahead with that, but we studied it… the implication of unilaterally studying the contract and the cost of it.

“We decided we have to do it at a later date or we may have to reduce the price. Reduction of the price is very difficult as far as we can make out. It has to be deferred,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

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

“We have to pay a high compensation. We cannot say that we will never build this HSR but at this moment, we don’t have the funds. We need to delay.”

The Pakatan Harapan chairman added that he has ordered Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali to inform Singapore officially on Malaysia’s stand. – July 19, 2018.