ST : Land swop deal: Joint team holds 4th meeting

Dec 03,2010

Land swop deal: Joint team holds 4th meeting

OFFICIALS from Singapore and Malaysia met here earlier this week to discuss the implementation details arising from an agreement on Malayan Railway land.

It is the fourth meeting of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Implementation Team, set up in May after breakthrough negotiations between the two countries' prime ministers. The team also met in July, August and October.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak agreed in May to move forward on issues arising from the 1990 Points of Agreement on Malayan Railway land.

These included relocating the Malayan Railway train station from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands. In September, both countries agreed to a land swop deal.

It involved a swop of six parcels of land in the Marina South and Ophir-Rochor areas in exchange for three parcels of railway land in Tanjong Pagar, Woodlands and Kranji and another three in Bukit Timah.

The Marina South and Ophir-Rochor land will be developed by M-S Pte Ltd, which is 60 per cent owned by Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional and 40 per cent owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The meeting was held 'in a cordial atmosphere', and both sides were pleased with the progress made by the sub-committees and working groups, a joint press statement said.

Foreign Affairs Ministry Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan led the Singapore delegation, while Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary-general Mohd Radzi Abdul Rahman led the Malaysian team.

The team will next meet in Kuala Lumpur later this month, and complete its work by the end of the year.