Malaysia-S'pore bridge 'to get ahead'

Malaysia-S'pore bridge 'to get ahead'

Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia will go ahead with the construction of a new bridge
linking the country with Singapore even though the city-state has
yet to make a decision on the matter, a newspaper reported on
Sunday.

Malaysia is expected to inform Singapore of the decision at a
meeting of senior officials in Malaysia on Tuesday, the New
Sunday Times said, citing unnamed sources.

Malaysian officials could not be reached on Sunday to comment
on the report.

The newspaper quoted an unidentified Malaysian official as
saying "Malaysia has waited too long for Singapore to respond."

"We have no choice but to go it alone," the official was
quoted as saying.

Malaysia proposed the new elevated bridge in 2000 to replace
the 1.06-kilometer causeway, completed in 1924, that currently
links the neighbors across the Straits of Johor.

More than 100,000 people cross the causeway each day, and
Malaysian officials have said a new bridge would ease congestion
and boost the flow of trans-Straits traffic.

Singapore, however, has given a lukewarm response to the
proposal, saying it is still gauging the project's likely
economic impact.

According to the Times report, Malaysia will build a bridge to
replace its side of the causeway using a design that will allow
Singapore to link up later. The report did not give details of
the design, saying only that it is expected to be unveiled during
Tuesday's meeting.

A Singapore foreign ministry spokesman, who cannot be
identified under briefing rules, noted that the two countries
have agreed that "it would not be helpful to publicize the
details" of discussions they had in March about bilateral issues
including the bridge construction.

"As discussions on the bridge to replace the causeway are
still ongoing, we should not prejudge the outcome of these
discussions," the spokesman said.

The project had earlier been part of a package deal that
included talks on Malaysia's supply of water to Singapore, but
negotiations stopped in 2002 without agreement on the bridge
design.

The countries have a history of spats but enjoy close economic
and cultural ties. They have stressed a new era in relations
since Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, stepped
down in 2003 and handed power to his less-combative deputy,
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The two former British colonies were united in 1963 but split
because of political discord two years later.