Tuesday November 7, 2006
Cabinet not against replacing Causeway, says Najib
JOHOR BARU: The Cabinet had never been against building a bridge to replace the Causeway but the project was cancelled for two reasons, one of which was the reluctance to comply with a couple of requests by Singapore.
The other reason was the indication by the republic that it wanted to take the matter to the international court.
“When we wanted to build a straight bridge, Singapore wanted us to sell them a fairly large quantity of sand and to allow them the use of our airspace,” said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“These two requests are difficult to accept from a political stand.
“When we wanted to build a crooked bridge, Singapore refused to accept, and was indicating about taking action through the international court.
“So, the Cabinet felt that it was better to just call off the project.”
Asked if the project would be revived in future, Najib said Malaysia could not make any unilateral decision as the country was tied to international laws and the water agreement with Singapore.
And what if Singapore decides to sincerely agree with continuing the bridge project?
Najib said: “If they were sincere on the project, it would have materialised by now.”
He added that the Government respected the Sultan of Johor’s views that the Causeway needed to be removed to allow ships to pass through the Johor straits.
Sultan Iskandar said his ancestors were deceived on the Causeway, which was purportedly built so as to develop Keppel harbour in Singapore.
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