Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong agreed today to relocate to Woodlands the 78-year-old Tanjong Pagar railway station operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).
The relocation, to take place on July 1 next year, marks a major step in resolving a number of outstanding bilateral issues between the two countries, as first reported by The Malaysian Insider last September 29.
According to a statement released after a meeting between Najib and Lee here today, the two governments will also form a company to jointly develop parcels of land now owned by KTMB.
The two leaders agreed that Malaysia would co-locate its railway and Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex to the Woodlands train checkpoint.
Singapore would facilitate the relocation to the Woodlands train checkpoint, and ensure bus service connectivity from the KTMB station at Woodlands to a nearby MRT station for the convenience of train passengers.
Both countries also announced that a company, known as MS Pte Ltd, will be established no later than Dec 31 this year to jointly develop the parcels of land.
Malaysia is to hold a 60 per cent stake in this company under Khazanah Nasional Berhad, while Singapore will have a 40 per cent share held by Temasek Holdings.
The three parcels of land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, along with another three pieces of land in Bukit Timah, will be vested by MS Pte Ltd for joint development, which in turn could be swapped on the basis of equivalent value for pieces of land in Marina South and/or Ophir-Rochor.
The joint statement said both sides would conduct their respective valuations.
Lee will visit Kuala Lumpur within a month with a proposal for the land swap with Malaysia.
The transfer of the land parcel to MS Pte Ltd will take effect at the time when KTMB vacates the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.
Singapore’s land swap proposal involves valuable parcels near the island state’s first casino in Marina South, instead of scattered pieces across the tiny republic.
Singapore had submitted a proposal to Wisma Putra last year for the joint-venture company that will develop the new piece of land.
It is understood that Malaysia has already appointed private valuers to ascertain the exact land value of the site, which is in lieu of the 217 hectares that KTM now owns in Singapore.
The site is near the Marina Bay Sands, which was recently opened. It also overlooks the Singapore F1 race track comprising streets in the republic’s priciest commercial zones.
The land swap has been contentious since the Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement (POA) was signed in 1990 over the issue of the future of the railway land. The POA was signed between former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former Malaysian Finance Minister Tun Daim Zanuddin.
Under the agreement, KTM was to vacate its historic station at Tanjong Pagar and move to Bukit Timah while all of KTM’s land between Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar would revert to Singapore. The land at Tanjong Pagar would be handed over to a private limited company for joint development — of which its equity would be split 60 per cent to Malaysia and 40 per cent to Singapore — as it is in the latest agreement.
But the key contention was the interpretation of the agreement as Singapore insisted the agreement meant KTM had to move its terminal from Tanjong Pagar to Bukit Timah within five years of its construction, when the republic moved its railway immigration in August 1998.
But Putrajaya said it would only be effective once it decided to move the station.
The railway land was acquired under a 1918 colonial ordinance specifically for use by Malayan Railway (Keretapi Tanah Melayu or KTM) for a period of 999 years. That same ordinance limits the use of this land. The land, which the main railway station is situated on, is considered prime land.
The 1990 POA states that the KTM railway station would be moved either to Bukit Timah first, or directly to Woodlands. In exchange, under the 1990 POA, three parcels of railway land — at Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, and Woodlands — would be jointly developed on a 60/40 basis with the Malaysian Government holding the larger share.
However, three years later, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressed his displeasure with the POA as it failed to include a piece of railway land in Bukit Timah for joint development.
In September 2001, both neighbours reached a comprehensive agreement with an understanding that the Malaysian immigration checkpoint on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore railway line will be moved from Tanjong Pagar to Kranji.
