Is there a secret sand deal with Singapore?
Channel News Asia reported: Najib hints of secret dealing with Lee Hsien Loong. According to the news report, early next month both governments are going to make a ‘significant announcement’. Is this significant announcement about Malaysia selling 1 billion cubic meters of sand to Singapore at SGD30 per cubic meter? And has Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad agreed to this? If not….then….hmm….
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Najib hints at major announcement at next meeting with PM Lee
By Teo Cheng Wee, Channel News Asia
JOHOR BARU: Improving ties between Singapore and Malaysia will see their leaders meeting for a fifth time early next month, when a ‘significant announcement’ will be made, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak promised yesterday.
While he did not elaborate on what this would be, he said that they will touch on the progress of initiatives to improve connectivity between their countries, as well as the ‘iconic project’ that they are developing in Johor’s Iskandar development region.
The meeting is part of a series of regular retreats that Mr Lee Hsien Loong and Datuk Seri Najib have had since May 2009, and which have led to major breakthroughs in longstanding disputes that previously hampered bilateral ties.
Among others, they worked out a landmark land swop involving Malayan Railway land and agreed to work together on multi-billion-dollar projects in Johor and Singapore.
An MRT link between Johor Baru and Singapore is also set to be operational by 2018. Companies from both countries were reportedly invited last month to bid for the right to do an architectural and engineering study of the link, which is expected to take a little over two years to complete.
These tie-ups, initiated since Mr Najib took office almost three years ago, have deepened bonds across the Causeway.
Indeed, targeting Singaporean investors and identifying mutually beneficial growth sectors were included among the key strategies outlined yesterday by Malaysia’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda).
It has been five years since the Iskandar development region in southern Johor was launched, and yesterday saw Mr Najib officiating at the showcase of the project’s achievements.
In his speech, the Malaysian Prime Minister underlined the importance of working with Singapore.
Improvements in links between Johor Baru and Singapore, he pointed out, would help create a ‘mutually beneficial economic unit’ in this region to compete with the rest of the world.
‘In today’s increasingly globalised world, competition is as much between regions as between countries,’ he said. ‘Regions must work to make themselves truly competitive on a global scale.’
Since it was first launched in 2006, Iskandar Malaysia has attracted RM77.8 billion (S$31.9 billion) worth of investment commitments.
Private schools and universities, theme parks and hospitals have been built or are set to spring up from what were previously vast empty tracts of land.
Yesterday, Mr Najib had a bird’s eye view of the progress when he took a 30-minute helicopter ride over the region, accompanied by Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman, Khazanah managing director Azman Mokhtar and Irda chief Ismail Ibrahim.
Another 12 projects worth RM1.73 billion were also announced at the event, from both domestic and foreign investors.
These included plans by international consultancy Frost & Sullivan to establish a Global Innovation Centre to house financial and research centres. The company will invest about RM600 million, creating more than 800 new high-value jobs.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s education services provider Raffles Campus will form a joint venture company with Malaysian property developer UMLand to develop an international school at Bandar Seri Alam.
Called the Excelsior International School, it will be spread out over 8.1ha of land and offer international curricula for children aged three to 18 years old. The campus is expected to be completed by June 2013.
Earlier in the day, Mr Najib also announced that recently opened designer discount chain Johor Premium Outlets will spend another RM100 million to expand further.
Located in Iskandar and housing labels such as Burberry, Gap and Coach, another 60 shops are set to be added, bringing the total number to 130.
He also announced a 942-strong auxiliary police battalion to be based in Iskandar Malaysia to boost safety and security – an issue that has been a concern for some investors here.
He handed out appointment letters to the first batch of 13 officers yesterday.
