Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali was present at the cabinet meeting last Thursday where a decision to cancel the RM81 billion China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project was reportedly made.
"I can confirm that Dato' Seri Azmin attended cabinet on Thursday," an officer to Azmin told reporters in a brief WhatsApp message today.
The officer's clarification follows reports which quoted Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng as saying that Azmin was absent from the meeting and as such might not be aware of certain decisions made by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad with regards to the ECRL project.
At a press conference earlier this morning, Lim initially said Azmin was not present during the last cabinet meeting, and that he was "shocked" by the latter's announcement about the project’s cancellation.
Lim, however, subsequently clarified he did not intend to state Azmin was not present during the meeting.
"I don't want to say that (Azmin was absent), because it may give rise to negative speculation. I just want to state that he might not have been informed of Mahathir's intentions.
"In any case, I will act on Mahathir's instructions," Lim said, adding that an official announcement on the project is expected to be made sometime next week.
Commenting on Lim's remarks, MCA president Wee Ka Siong questioned what he described to be a public spat between the two ministers.
"Guan Eng was shocked that Azmin announced the cancellation of the ECRL contract.
"I am shocked that two senior ministers are having a 'war of words' in the media," he said in a Facebook post.
He further noted that unlike typical cabinet meetings, the last cabinet meeting had been held on Thursday instead of Wednesday.
"Guan Eng said, Azmin did not attend the cabinet meeting on Thursday? (sic) The cabinet meeting is usually held on Wednesday, so why on Thursday?
"Did Tun Mahathir, who was overseas, not trust (Deputy Prime Minister Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail) to chair the cabinet meeting?
On Thursday, news outlet Sin Chew Daily quoted a cabinet source who said the government is also discussing compensation matters with Chinese firm China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC), the contractor for the project. - Mkini
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