Cabinet bars ministers from talking about ECRL negotiations
The cabinet has barred its members from talking about the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, and decided that talks between Putrajaya and Beijing should proceed away from the public glare."
According to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, this is due to the "sensitivity" of contract negotiations between the two countries.
"The ECRL matter was discussed and the cabinet made a decision to adopt a statement made by the prime minister...
The cabinet has barred its members from talking about the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, and decided that talks between Putrajaya and Beijing should proceed away from the public glare."
According to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, this is due to the "sensitivity" of contract negotiations between the two countries.
"The ECRL matter was discussed and the cabinet made a decision to adopt a statement made by the prime minister that the matter would still undergo negotiations.
"The cabinet also decided that no minister should make any announcement except for the prime minister," he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.
Lim also stated that a time frame has been set for negotiations on the project.
"I think this is something normal and should not be widely publicised by the media," he added.
The minister, however, declined to confirm a report that ECRL's main contractor, China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), was seeking an amicable solution with Malaysia.
"We would urge the media to wait for the official statement issued by the government when we are ready to do so," he said.
Earlier today, The Star reported that CCCC has agreed to bring the project's cost down to the RM40 billion range, from the initial cost of around RM70 billion.
CCCC is also said to have agreed to share operational costs and financial risks after construction is completed.
The report also claimed that CCCC, in its mitigating letter, said it was still open towards resolving the issue amicably.
Read more: Report: CCCC looking for amicable solution over ECRL
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the compensation for slashing the ECRL contract would be significantly lower than the debt the government would have to pay for the next 30 years if it was continued.
He said, however, that Malaysia was still in the process of negotiation, and that a final decision had not been made.
Singapore's Straits Times had initially reported that Putrajaya was in the process of seeking a new contractor to lead the ECRL project.
Last Saturday, Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali had said that the cabinet had decided to terminate the project, adding that this had been decided in a cabinet meeting two days prior.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng later said that he was shocked by Azmin's statement, and that the latter might not have been informed of certain matters decided by the prime minister regarding the project.
He subsequently explained that he was shocked by the timing of Azmin's statement, not by its content.
To be an effective government Harapan needs a strong leader who is authoritative. Often than not the need to be inclusive has led to unnecessarily interference and worse a proliferation of unauthorized spokesmen. Any billion dollar projects especially those approved by previous regime requires greater scrutiny, and investigation. The non starter project is obvious. Apart from appeasing the PAS support states the money should be better spent on other more deserving places including the crowded Penang or the North South fast train. For long most beneficiaries of bug projects are infrastructure developers or contarctor. Any other desired outcomes are secondary, which explains why we have many white elephants. Rather than putting a ban on cabinet to speak up the Government has to be practical. Spending billions to win votes will not help.
"The cabinet also decided that no minister should make any announcement except for the prime minister," - should have done it earlier.
It remind me of my primary school days
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