BEIJING — Malaysian officials said on Friday that they would allow work on a controversial Chinese rail project to resume after billions of dollars in costs were slashed.
The Malaysian government announced a new agreement with China Communications Construction Company, a Chinese state-owned company, that will allow the project to go forward after being suspended last year. The project, meant to connect Malaysia’s east and west coasts, is now expected to cost $10.7 billion, roughly half of the original projection of up to $20 billion — a price tag that had caused consternation within Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s administration.
“This reduction will surely benefit Malaysia and lighten the burden on the country’s financial position,” Mr. Mahathir’s office said in a statement.
The project, known as the East Coast Rail Link, became a political lightning rod after Mr. Mahathir used its cost as an issue on his way to winning election last year. The project has also become a symbol of the sometimes high costs of projects that China uses to bolster its influence abroad.
Mr. Mahathir, 93, came out political retirement last year to oust then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, who lost amid public anger over years of alleged corruption in his government. Some of this corruption was alleged by Malaysian officials to be connected to Chinese projects like the East Coast Rail Link and a proposed $2.5 billion plan for a Chinese giant to build a gas pipeline.
Soon after becoming prime minister, Mr. Mahathir announced that the government would halt the East Coast Rail Link project and the gas pipeline deal.
In an interview with The New York Times last year, Malaysia’s finance minister, Lim Guan Eng, said the government was “looking for some cost rationalization,” adding that “we want to reduce costs.”
Source : Nytimes
