Najib ‘lied’ about crooked bridge project

There was no agreement with Singapore on the causeway and nothing to stop the construction of the crooked bridge project with the island.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has clarified that the building of a “crooked bridge” to link up with half the causeway on the Singapore side was entirely within Malaysia’s rights as an independent nation. “Singapore cannot object to what we do with our half of the causeway.”

“When we wanted to build the rail link right into Singapore, they chased us out from there.”

“If Singapore wants to do as we did, it’s entirely within their prerogatives,” said Mahathir in an interview in Malay with Peraktoday@kl. “We don’t need their permission to build our half of the bridge.”

He disclosed that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had claimed, during a one on one meeting between them after dinner one day, that there was an agreement between both countries on the causeway and that meant the crooked bridge could not be built unless both sides agreed.

“I asked him, ‘show me the Agreement’,” said Mahathir, implying that there was no such Agreement, having been Prime Minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.

“Are we an independent nation or a colony of Singapore?’, I asked him.”

He was expressing dissatisfaction that many things that he had planned, including the crooked bridge project, were not carried out by his successor Abdullah Badawi and Najib. Besides the crooked bridge project, he mentioned the rail link, all agreed to when he was Prime Minister. “My expectation was that these projects would be continued after I stepped down as Prime Minister. I had expected Najib to continue the crooked bridge project after Badawi left.”

He also conceded that the people were free to interpret his relationship with Najib in any manner that they wanted. “Personally, I have nothing to benefit from the crooked bridge project.”

He hastened to add that the relationship between them was good until differences cropped up on the manner in which Najib administered the country and he made his stand clear. “Not even one of the things that I had expected would be done, after I stepped down, has been done.”

“Najib still continues to do whatever he wants to do and I feel things (that he’s doing) are not right.”

Mahathir stressed that he doesn’t want to touch publicly on his relationship with Najib but since the Prime Minister brought it up, he felt that he had to respond. “After our dinner meeting, Najib stopped communicating with me for six months, until others felt that we should resume where we left off. I don’t expect him to come to my house but he insisted on coming. I respect him as Prime Minister and I was willing to go to his office, and in fact I did. Also, I wanted to have a look at my old office.”

Malaysia was not too rich a nation, warned Mahathir, and it’s important that the leadership is careful and prudent when running the administration.