Malaysia To Relocate Tanjong Pagar Train Station To Woodlands

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, May 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia today agreed to move the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) station at Tanjong Pagar here to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint (WTCP) by July 1, 2011.

Malaysia will also co-locate its railway customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) facilities at the WTCP.

These were some of the major decisions reached by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during the leaders' retreat at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

When they met, both leaders were looking at the matters arising from the Points of Agreement (PoA) on Malayan railway lands in Singapore which had long become the obstacles to their countries' good bilateral ties.

Najib and Lee agreed to move the issues forward and both countries decided to jointly develop the KTMB lands around Singapore to maximize its full potentials.

At their joint press conference after the retreat, both leaders agreed that a Malaysia-Singapore joint company, known as M-S Pte Ltd, be established before Dec 31 this year to develop the lands vacated by KTMB.

The company will be set up by Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings Limited, with each holding 60 per cent and 40 percent equity respectively.

KTMB lands in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands and three additional pieces of land in Bukit Timah, with a total area of 271 hectares, will be vested in the company for joint development.

The developed KTMB lands could in turn be swapped, on the basis of equivalent value for pieces of land in Marina South and Ophir Rochor here.

The leaders said both countries would conduct their respective valuations and Lee would visit Kuala Lumpur within a month with a proposal for the land swap for Malaysia's consideration