Sultan Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ismail wants the federal government to review its 2006 decision to cancel the bridge project to replace the Causeway.

He said the Causeway was very important to the people and the Johor sultanate since previous rulers had always be supportive of efforts to upgrade the Causeway.

"Given the importance of the Johor Causeway for the people, my family from the time of my ancestor Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim down to my father, Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, has supported efforts to improve on the Johor Causeway," the ruler was reported by Bernama as saying.

He said this after officiating JB Sentral in the state capital earlier this morning.

The project to build a bridge to replace the Causeway to Singapore was first mooted by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in early 2000.

However, when bilateral disagreements threatened to derail the plan, Mahathir decided on a 'crooked' half-bridge above Malaysian waters to be connected to Singapore's side of the causeway.

crooked scenic bridge 110406 samy vellu looking at model This ,however, was mothballed by Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, leading to a bitter feud between the two leaders.

Mahathir has not given up on his idea of the crooked bridge, saying last month that still thinks it is a good idea.

Besides easing traffic congestion between Johor Bahru and Singapore, it was said that the bridge would facilitate free flow of water in the Tebrau Strait besides allowing ships heading to east coast ports of the Asian continent to bypass Singapore.

Third link shot down

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has since proposed, however, a 'straight' bridge linking Johor and Singapore.

proposed third link bridge to singapore 220509 Malaysia and Singapore are already connected by a bridge on the western side of Johor, called the Second Link, and the 86-year-old Causeway.

Najib's proposed bridge, mooted to for the eastern side of Johor, was to be the third link between the two countries to help bring development to the eastern side of Johor, in areas such as Pengerang and Desaru.

This, however, was shot down by the then-regent Ibrahim when he said his late father, then the sultan of Johor, was against the proposal .

Gov't to look into proposal

While commending the federal government and state governments for the successful completion of Sultan Iskandar Building and JB Sentral, Sultan Ibrahim also expressed his pleasure at both projects being completed on schedule by bumiputera contractors from the state.

He hoped more government projects would be awarded to the state's bumiputera contractors as they had proven their ability to develop mega-projects.

In an immediate reaction, Najib said this afternoon that the government will look into Sultan Ibrahim's call to revive the bridge project to replace the Johor Causeway.

"We will look into it," Bernama reported Najib as saying after opening the "Mengukuh Wadah Memperkasa Ummah" convention organised by the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM) in Kuantan.

Najib did not elaborate.