ST : Railway land valuation

May 28, 2010

Railway land valuation

THE valuation of land owned by Malayan Railway (KTM) in Singapore will be completed within a month, Khazanah Nasional's managing director Azman Mokhtar said yesterday.

'Then we'll work out commercially what is the best thing to do,' Mr Azman told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Khazanah and Singapore's Temasek Holdings, which will set up a joint company to develop the land, have already met and set up a working group, he said.

Asked if the valuation would be based on Singapore market rates, he said it was being done by independent parties and each side would present its own valuation.

'Some numbers have been mentioned but it is certainly substantial,' he said.

Mr Azman said the resolution of the decades-long railway land dispute was a 'breakthrough' for the two countries.

'It is not like I win, you lose, it is we both win. If you look at it carefully, the exchange is fair, it is good,' the Khazanah chief said.

He said he did not expect the issue of valuation to bog down the intended development of the KTM land.

'We need to see the valuation by both sides. The intention is to move forward,' he said, adding he hoped the matter could be concluded when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visits Malaysia later next month.

BERNAMA