Malaysia's Abdullah confirms: Multibillion dollar railway project is off<\/p>\n
Rohan Sullivan
\nAssociated Press
\nKuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confirmed on
\nWednesday the government would shelve a 14.5 billion ringgit
\n(US$3.8 billion) railway project approved by his predecessor,
\nsaying he had other priorities.<\/p>\n
Cabinet decided at its regular weekly meeting that
\nconstruction of the railway, which would have been Malaysia's
\nbiggest-ever infrastructure project, will be postponed
\nindefinitely.<\/p>\n
The decision was taken \"because of the need to prioritize
\nMalaysia's many development projects,\" Abdullah said in a
\nstatement after the meeting.<\/p>\n
Cabinet discussed the project at its meeting last week, and
\nAbdullah said afterward he thought the project should be
\npostponed because it was too costly.<\/p>\n
The postponement is the second major financial policy decision
\nof former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that Abdullah has
\nreversed, and is seen as a sign that the newcomer is emerging
\nfrom the veteran leader's shadow.<\/p>\n
Mahathir handed power to Abdullah, his hand-picked successor,
\nwhen he retired on Oct. 31.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who ran Malaysia for 22 years, was known to favor
\nmassive infrastructure projects, such as the Petronas Twin
\nTowers, once the world's tallest.<\/p>\n
Abdullah has said he wants to focus more on education and
\nsocial programs.<\/p>\n
Weeks before he retired, Mahathir awarded construction
\ncontracts for project - a railway running the length of peninsula
\nMalaysia - to a consortium headed by a businessman friend, Syed
\nMokhtar Albukhary.<\/p>\n
This was despite the government earlier signing letters of
\nintent awarding the project's two sections state-controlled
\nIndian and Chinese companies. Mahathir's decision raised fears of
\ntrade retaliation, which didn't eventuate.<\/p>\n
If it had gone ahead, the railway would have dwarfed the
\nprevious largest public project, the 10 billion ringgit ($2.6
\nbillion) Kuala Lumpur International Airport.<\/p>\n
Within two weeks of taking office, Abdullah halted another
\nMahathir plan - to list a government-held plantation cooperative,
\nFelda, on the stock exchange - saying it needed further study.<\/p>",
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