KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi chided DAP’s Tony Pua for suggesting the government provide free flights for Malaysians to Singapore, instead of pushing the revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.

The Johor state lawmaker claimed that the former DAP MP’s suggestion benefits only those who go to Singapore and vice versa, since Pua’s proposal would only see Putrajaya dishing out free tickets.

"While HSR benefits all users, it does not use government funds as it is a private initiative.

"Pua failed to evaluate the HSR from the overflow aspect. HSR is a ‘game changer’ that will develop the areas around its stations later. The economic benefits are enormous,” he said in a statement on his official Facebook today.

Puad, who is also Johor state legislative assembly speaker, was responding to Pua’s remarks yesterday that it is cheaper to provide Malaysians with free flights to Singapore than to pay interest to finance the HSR project.

He also questioned why Pua remained silent on the Penang undersea tunnel project.

"Is it a priority? Penang already has two bridges.

"Fortunately, Pua no longer holds any position in the government. He is increasingly marginalised in DAP politics,” said Puad, adding that Pua is no longer an adviser.

Yesterday, Pua claimed that providing free flights was a more viable proposition for the government compared to bringing back the HSR project that is estimated to involve about RM80 billion, including land acquisition costs and interests.

The DAP politician had observed that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore Changi flight route is the busiest in the world.

Pua’s assumption was based on the calculation of RM400 per seat for the flight that he claimed will involve less than RM2 billion worth of air tickets per year.

This he said was much cheaper than the RM4 billion in annual interest for the HSR project based on the current interest rate of five per cent that the government will incur.

Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who is also the incoming Yang di-Pertuan Agong, had last week called for the HSR project to be revived and realigned to run through Forest City, a massive luxury development project in Johor that had targeted nationals from China.

The federal government said on March 8 that it is open to reviving the HSR, but will not fund the 350km-long rail project that was last estimated to cost more than RM100 billion.

On July 12, it was reported that the HSR’s project implementation would be privately funded by MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Malaysia and Singapore first signed an agreement for the HSR in 2016 that would see trains running at speeds in excess of 300km/h, enabling travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore within 90 minutes.

The project was scheduled to complete in 2026, and expected to provide three main services: direct travel between Malaysia and Singapore within 90 minutes; domestic service in Malaysia; and shuttle service from Iskandar Puteri in Johor to Singapore.

The project was then suspended by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in September 2018, but revived just three months later with adjustments to costs.

Malaysia and Singapore announced the termination of the HSR project on January 1, 2021, as the two countries failed to reach an agreement on changes proposed by Malaysia before the project agreement expired on December 31, 2020.

Malaysia paid S$102.8 million (RM320.27 million) in compensation to Singapore for costs incurred for the development of the project and related to the extension of its suspension.