Singapore today indicated willingness to study Malaysia’s proposal of a bridge to replace the Causeway. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the republic also agreed to study the economic feasibility of the project. Describing this as a positive development, he said the republic had rejected the idea of a bridge in previous negotiations. "Singapore has always said that a new bridge was not necessary. But today they (Singapore senior officials) said they would seriously look at our proposal," he told the New Straits Times in a telephone interview from Helsinki, Finland. He said this when asked to comment on the outcome of a two-day meeting of senior officials from both sides in Putrajaya. Syed Hamid said the meeting was constructive, with both sides pledging to resolve the issue in mutually beneficial ways. The meeting comes after several previous encounters between delegations from both sides which did not make much headway, including one between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. Malaysia decided on Saturday it would proceed with re-building its portion of the Causeway under a plan that will allow Singapore to do likewise later.
