The Star Online: Chronology of events of bridge project

Thursday April 13, 2006

Chronology of events of bridge project

July 1996: The idea to replace the Causeway with a bridge was mooted by then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The bridge was aimed at easing traffic congestion in Johor Baru, and to improve water quality and reduce pollution in the Johor Straits.

December 1999: Gerbang Perdana submitted a privatisation proposal for the Southern International Gateway project to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU). The proposal was to replace the Causeway with a bridge and redevelop the existing Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facilities, including improvement to the existing road network in the Johor Baru central business district.

October 2002: When the water issue was separated from the package of bilateral issues, Singapore called off talks on the bridge plan.

August 2003: Malaysia announced it would unilaterally build its half of the bridge.

January 2004: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia would present a new bridge proposal to Singapore. He said Malaysia was still interested in building a straight bridge instead of a “crooked” one.

February 2004: Singapore said it could only agree to the bridge if there was a balance of benefits for both sides. Singapore reportedly wanted Malaysia to sell sand for its reclamation works and to allow its jetfighters to use Malaysian airspace as a trade-off for it to agree to the proposal.

January 2005: The Government gave the go-ahead to resume works to build the bridge. The target was for it to be completed in the second quarter of 2009.

October 2005: Singapore’s lukewarm response prompted Malaysia to pursue the idea of a “crooked bridge” on the Malaysian side.

Jan 27, 2006: Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the Government was expected to issue a letter of intent to the Gerbang Perdana consortium to proceed with the project. He said the instructions came from Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

Jan 31, 2006: Abdullah said Malaysia was going ahead with its plan to build a bridge across its half of the Johor Straits as any delay would incur more cost. He said that while the construction of the RM640mil bridge was going ahead, negotiations to get Singapore to complete the project would continue.