Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali confirmed Singaporean news reports that he did not meet officials from the republic's Ministry of Transport (MOT) over the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
Azmin also clarified that when he informed the media about the meeting, he did not mention that the officers were from the MOT.
"They (news reports) were right. When I mentioned it to you yesterday, did I say (I met) 'officials from MOT'?" he said when met at the Parliament lobby this evening.
Pressed who were the officials he met, the minister replied: "Singaporean."
Earlier today, former premier Najib Abdul Razak urged Azmin to clear up the contradiction over the meeting.
Yesterday, Azmin said he met with several senior officials in Singapore to discuss the HSR project when he visited Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who had undergone treatment in the republic.
The PKR leader had also described the meeting as "very positive."
Meanwhile, Azmin this evening said an official meeting with Singaporean officials on the HSR project would only take place in mid-August.
"They initially proposed (that we meet) before July 31, but as I said earlier we were too occupied with Parliament and other domestic issues... We will iron out a date soon," he added.
Azmin said "all options" on the project would be on the table when both sides officially meet. He refused to reveal details at this point.
Since coming to power, the Pakatan Harapan administration has vowed to review the project because it was deemed to be too costly and unviable.
However, scrapping the project would likely incur hefty penalties.
The project was introduced by the Najib administration to cut down travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to 90 minutes.
The Kuala Lumpur terminal was slated for Bandar Malaysia, a stillborn development project that was once owned by scandal-plagued 1MDB. - Mkini
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