Malaysia: No more comments on ECRL for now, says Guan Eng

• Putrajaya will not issue any statement on the status of the East Coast Rail Link for the time being, said Lim Guan Eng on 29 Jan 19, after meeting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the morning.
• An official statement will only be made after the government has decided on the actual status of the project.
• Dr Mahathir said that both countries are still negotiating to find a common ground.
• His administration is still studying the costs involved in the multi-billion-dollar project where it is claimed that previous government gave a very high estimate on ECRL.
• The government is said to be seeking to halve the estimated project cost to MYR40bn. Dr Mahathir also said Malaysia was not out to frustrate China or renege on its contracts, but wanted to cut back on expenses it cannot afford.
• “It is not that we don’t want to honour our contracts, but we just cannot pay. This contract may cost us more than MYR100bn and will impoverish us,” he said.
• He also said that the compensation Malaysia needs to pay China for cancelling the project is not as high as the costs for the project itself. Dr Mahathir, however, declined to confirm whether ECRL has been cancelled.
• He also addressed the conflicting remarks given by different ministers saying “Sometimes, ministers make announcements before they are due. I admit some mistakes were made and we will correct them.”
• Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur released the song on 28 Jan 19 on its Facebook page to commemorate 45 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• China is hoping a song will remind Malaysia of warmer relations in the past.

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