Monday, April 20, 2009

Return of The Crooked Bridge for Johor

Crooked bridge: Mahathir hits back (Malaysiakini)
27 April 2006

“The Malaysian bridge will land on the Malaysian portion of the causeway. The only way Singapore can prevent traffic from the bridge from passing through from the Malaysian portion of the Causeway into the Singapore half is to put a barrier across the causeway border.

“This would certainly constitute an unfriendly act. It would be Singapore cutting its nose to spite its face. The damage to Singapore businesses would be at least as bad as that which Malaysia may suffer. But in reality Singapore needs Malaysia more than Malaysian needs Singapore. We have our ports and airports to replace Singapore ports, airports and other services.”



Bridge plan not totally cast aside, says Najib (NST)
7 November 2006

“The Cabinet is not totally averse to the idea,” he said after closing the two-day Johor Umno Convention here. “The obstacle lies in our negotiations with Singapore.” He said as Malaysia was bound by international conventions and treaties, it could not unilaterally proceed with the bridge to replace the Causeway.

Asked if the bridge project would be revived, he replied: “I cannot predict the future.”


Pak Lah: Budget deficit killed the crooked bridge (TMI)
1 April 2009

Outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi cancelled the so-called crooked bridge project between Johor and Singapore in 2006 because of the huge federal budget deficit then.

He said the federal budget had a 5.3 per cent deficit then and if the government had gone ahead with the project, it would not have extra funds to launch an economic stimulus package afterwards.



Construction of crooked bridge meets people's aspiration (Bernama)
14 April 2009

"The people of Johor are placing high hopes on the Prime Minister to review the decision to cancel the crooked bridge project across the Johor Straits.

"The effects from the construction of the crooked bridge will be most positive to the Johor economy. We urge the government to reconsider (the cancellation) as soon as possible," said Khalid who is also the Johor Baharu Umno Youth chief, at a media conference, here today.

Yesterday, the public including associations and the Johor Chinese and Indian Chambers of Commerce expressed confidence that the cancellation of the crooked bridge project would be reviewed by Najib's administration.


No need for crooked bridge, Johor Baru MP (TheStar)
19 April 2009

Johor Baru Member of Parliament Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad is against the revival of the crooked bridge project between Malaysia and Singapore, and has instead proposed that both countries work together to build a straight one.

He said that a straight bridge would be good for building better bilateral ties between the two governments.

“The Singapore government has agreed on the development of iconic projects in Iskandar Malaysia.

“Why not build a straight bridge as one of the iconic projects?” he said.



A Piece of My Mind


1Malaysia has recently ordered the Economic Planning Unit of Malaysia under the PM's Dept to review the toll concessionaires and submit a proposal to the Prime Minister.

This came fresh and hot after MCA's call to the Government to acquire PLUS via Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

The results of this study will be out in July. Will there be space and time for another review?

Being a Johorean, TS Muhyiddin should listen to the voices of the people down South and discuss the matter with DS Najib.

We have waited long for the "crooked bridge" (or any bridge) and the development of Port Tanjung Pelepas.

EPU should be directed to study the crooked bridge again, although I am sure there were studies done before under Tun Dr Mahathir's administration.

This matter is of great importance to all of us Malaysians and we await the decision of the leadership.

The development of a crooked bridge will boost the gloomy economy of Malaysia that is expected to shrink 1-2% this year (much better than Singapore's projected 9% after a first quarter -12% GDP).

It will also help boost the turnover of trade in Port Tanjung Pelepas as the new bridge will allow free flow of water through the Straits.

At this moment, the Causeway is like a brick of wall that cuts the Straits into two.

EPU and the MoF should place a "HIGH PRIORITY" tag on this project which has been shelved for a long time after Tun retired.

A PIECE OF MY MIND awaits the call for the crooked bridge.

5 comments:

Round bridge said...

For BN to gain the confidence of the Rakyat, the true story of the cancellation of the crooked bridge by Abdullah Badawi must be told now, without fear or favor, now that Najib is in power.

What is this about the sand deal tied with the construction of the crroked bridge?

Who was the purported beneficiary of the sand deal?

Goh Wei Liang said...

That is very right. I hope DS Najib will give a tell-all session on this.

Pak Lah is giving many kinds of excuses.

From contractual reasons to budget deficits.

Jimmy Tham said...

Of all things that Tun M had done, I admire his courage and vision in seeing things further ahead when no one else could. You either like him or you hate him. His machiavellian philosophy is fine with me as long as it is for the greater good.

Wonder any of you had realised Malaysia had lagged far behind in economic development vis-a-vis other former Asian Tigers in the like of Korea and Taiwan. Pre-98 crisis we can brag about the comparable gdp per capita but how do you feel when I say the capital of Samsung alone (pre devaluation of won) is equal to the capital of Bursa as a whole.

I say tear that fucking bridge down and compete with singaporeans head on. I see no reason why we can't compete with their port and airport when we definitely have the advantage in proximity and cost.

Anonymous said...

i wonder why they want a crooked bridge instead of straight bridge. straight bridge is much more better than crooked bridge in sense of traffic flow and cost. and if i not wrong, singapore agreed to replace the causeway with a straight bridge at first, but when malaysia change the plan to build a crooked bridge instead of straight bridge unilateraly, singapore going to against it. so build a straight bridge also make easier negotiation with singapore government.
and important is, crooked bridge is only scenic and is not practical at all in easing the traffic.

Goh Wei Liang said...

There is no need to wonder why. Singapore will agree to a straight bridge if we allow them to have sand from our country and allow them to use our airspace for their military jets.

Malaysian Govt disagreed with such demands.

That is why a crooked bridge on our own waters surfaced as a plan to replace the Causeway.

Building a crooked bridge is totally within our territories and we have the sovereign rights to do so.