Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mustapa Mohamed promised to release the amount of compensation Malaysia must pay to Singapore for cancelling the High Speed Rail (HSR) project between the two countries.
However, he said, it can only be done after the matter is finalised, adding that there was a confidentiality clause which would require both countries to mutually agree on the disclosure.
He also gave his assurance that the amount would be "significantly lower" than the S$270 million (RM891 million) which Singapore's Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung had said was the amount incurred by the city-state for the project.
"There is a lot of pressure to reveal the amount, but it will surely be revealed one day.
"For now, it cannot be released unless there is agreement from both sides, but it (the compensation) has yet to be finalised. It would be inappropriate to reveal the figure before it is finalised.
"I hope the people will understand and I give my assurance that when it is finalised, the government will surely inform the people.
"After all, it is the people's money and we will surely inform the people," Mustapa said in an interview with Astro Awani.
He went on to stress that the compensation won't be as high as the S$270 million as cited by Singapore as it would not include land acquisition cost.
"We are confident it will not reach that amount," he said.
The terms for the compensation, Mustapa added, were only to cover for what had been expended and do not contain "punitive" clauses.
The HSR agreement was inked in 2016 and would have reduced travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes.
The project was delayed after a change in the Malaysian government in May that year, where the Pakatan Harapan government sought to reduce the cost and was given until the end of May 2020 to negotiate.
However, the Harapan government collapsed in late February 2020 and the new Perikatan Nasional government took over negotiations and was given until December 2020.
The bilateral agreement lapsed after no consensus was achieved by the deadline.
On Jan 1, the prime ministers of both countries announced that the bilateral agreement on the HSR would be terminated as they could not come to an agreement.
The HSR was to have stations in Bandar Malaysia, Sepang-Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri in Malaysia and Jurong East in Singapore. - Mkini
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