Putrajaya won’t revive crooked bridge, says Nazri
“Is Najib tied in a deal with the fifth prime minister? What is the status of this deal?” he added, referring to former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi who had cancelled the crooked bridge project.
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The Najib administration has no intentions of reviving the crooked bridge project proposed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to replace the Johor Causeway, according to Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s department said the government will stick to the decision reached during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration.
“The decision of the current government administration stands and follows the decision made by the previous administration, under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“The crooked bridge will not be built. There have been no talks to revive the project,” Nazri told The Malaysian Insider.
He pointed out bluntly that the government “cannot simply react” to news reports on individuals pushing for its renewal, and stressed that agreements and requests from various parties still needed to be considered before the project could be revived.
“We cannot simply react to reports on the news media. There has to be an official request from the Johor state government (for the revival of the bridge) and Singapore has to also first agree to this.
“The Singaporean government has not agreed to this. So it’s difficult on so many levels to go ahead with the project,” said the law minister.
“During his time, Dr Mahathir had wanted the bridge to be built to ease the congestion of the Causeway. But Singapore did not agree to it (even) back then,” explained the Padang Rengas MP.
The government’s decision comes amid calls by Dr Mahathir and the Sultan of Johor to revive the abandoned project.
The former prime minister has questioned Najib’s reluctance in continuing the project despite a request by the Sultan of Johor for Putrajaya for to revive the replacement for the Causeway that was built in 1923.
“The question that many have asked me, and I am convinced that this is also being asked by a majority of people, is why Datuk Seri Najib as the powerful prime minister is not willing to continue building this bridge?” asked Dr Mahathir in a posting on his popular blog two days’ ago.
“Is Najib tied in a deal with the fifth prime minister? What is the status of this deal?” he added, referring to former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi who had cancelled the crooked bridge project.
