RSS Feed
TwitterKTM land swap done but arbitration for development charges
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak met his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and accepted the offer for four land parcels in Marina South and two pieces in Ophir/Rochor in exchange for three parcels of KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, and three pieces in Bukit Timah.
MS Pte Ltd, a 60-40 joint venture between the respective sovereign wealth funds, Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Temasek Holdings, will handle the six Singapore land parcels for joint development when KTM vacates the Tanjong Pagar railway station to the Woodlands train checkpoint by July next year which will also have the Malaysian Customs, immigration and quarantine facilities.
The four Marina South parcels are located in Marina Bay, while the two Ophir-Rochor sites are next to the Kampong Glam historic district in a new growth corridor that is being developed as an extension of Singapore’s Central Business District, according to the republic’s Straits Times newspaper.
The two leaders, however, could not agree on the development charges payable on the three KTM land parcels in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands.
They have agreed to settle the issue amicably through the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and will “accept the arbitration award as final and binding”, said a joint statement issued by the two PMs after their talks in Singapore.
Diplomatic sources said Singapore had referred to its land laws on the development charges but Malaysian officials working on the deal wanted a higher valuation without paying the higher charges.
“Arbitration seems the only way, otherwise the deal won’t go through,” a diplomatic source told The Malaysian Insider, adding any delay will see the KTM land revert back to Singapore without any compensation after June 2011.
Speaking to reporters after the talks with Lee, Najib said the deal is “mutually beneficial”.
Both prime ministers said it enables the two sides to move forward and co-operate on other issues like the planned rapid transit system and development of a wellness township project in Iskandar Malaysia.
A joint implementation team will also complete discussion on the details of the implementation of the Points of Agreement (POA) by December 31. The POA was signed in 1990 by then-Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.
This is the third round of talks between the two leaders since May when they announced that a solution has been found to ensure the POA are implemented.
When both leaders last met in Putrajaya in July, they had agreed to meet again after Hari Raya Aidilfitri to settle the land swap due to a difference of opinion on the land valuation and the tenure of the land holding.
Both Najib and Lee first announced their agreement on the 20-year issue on May 24 when they disclosed that the rail land swap would see the joint-venture M-S Pte Ltd given three parcels of land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, and an additional three parcels of land in Bukit Timah (Lot 76-2 Mk 16, Lot 249 Mk 4 and Lot 32-10 Mk 16) for the joint development of the said parcels.
Future railway links between the two neighbours would include a rapid transit system link between Tanjung Puteri, Johor Baru and Singapore. The rapid transit system link will be integrated with public transport services in both Johor Baru and Singapore.
The rapid transit system link would have an integrated Malaysian and Singaporean Customs, immigration and quarantine facility located in Singapore, which will be operational by 2018 although the exact location has yet to be determined.
Both leaders also agreed that Malaysia might consider relocating the KTM station from Woodlands to Johor when the rapid transit system link is completed.
MI
0 comments:
Post a Comment