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.