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Mahathir laments scrapping of Malaysia-Singapore bridge project+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KUALA LUMPUR, April 13_(Kyodo) _ Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday that a contentious "crooked bridge" project to connect Malaysia to Singapore would not have been scrapped if he were still in power. His successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shocked both sides of the causeway by announcing Wednesday that the bridge project is off. "We were about to start but I retired. If I didn't, it would have started two-and-a-half years ago," Mahathir told reporters, evidently upset by the news. "Our neighbor is good. We must be very nice to them. All this while, we have always had to take care of Singapore's feelings," he said with characteristic sarcasm. Mahathir had been instrumental in pushing for a new bridge to replace the 82-year-old causeway that spans the southern Johore Strait. A new, wider bridge would help ease the serious congestion on both sides as every day some 100,000 people cross the causeway. When Singapore objected, he came up with a new plan in 2003, just months before he stepped down in October the same year, that envisaged a new bridge being built only on Malaysia's territory, linking up with Singapore's side of the causeway. The proposed half-bridge had been called the "crooked bridge" due to its convoluted design. Under Abdullah's administration, it was termed "scenic bridge." But Mahathir, who had a testy relationship with Singapore during his 22-year rule, called it "cynic bridge." Abdullah cited legal implications as one of the main reasons for canceling the 1.1 billion ringgit ($297 million) project. "There are water pipes, railway tracks (running along the causeway). We have to follow the law. I anticipate there could be problems (if we proceed)," he told reporters. Singapore had already warned Malaysia that it has no right to unilaterally demolish its half of the causeway, cut pipes that supply Malaysian water to Singapore or make changes to the railway track that runs along the causeway without Singapore's consent. Other reasons cited by Abdullah were the negative public sentiment toward Singapore's demand for rights to Malaysian airspace and Malaysia's supply of sand to the island-republic as tradeoffs to its consenting to the bridge project. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia wants to build a full, straight bridge to Singapore but not one that would stir so much emotion and public debate. "If we want to build a bridge, it must be a bridge of understanding," he told reporters. But he hinted that the project could be revisited in the future, saying, '"Nobody thought that the Berlin Wall would be brought down." Singapore was part of Malaysia until it became independent in 1965 in acrimonious circumstances. Since then, the two sides have often quarreled over issues such as the supply of water from Malaysia to Singapore, Malaysian-owned railway land in Singapore, pension funds contributed by Malaysians working in Singapore and the ban on Singapore military flights over Malaysian airspace. Abdullah said that while talks on the bridge issue have been suspended, negotiations on the other outstanding issues would continue. |