ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 23 — Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi today urged the government to expedite the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project between Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the light rail transit (LRT) transport system in Johor Baru.

He said this was to ensure the state’s economy grows in line with the state’s development agenda.

He explained that efforts to upgrade the public transport system, especially in Johor Baru’s city centre will complete the state’s economic development ecosystem.

“Following the government’s announcement of the establishment of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and the Forest City special financial zone (SFZ), there is a need for the HSR and LRT projects to be urgently implemented in Johor Baru.

“With that, the state government hopes that the federal government will be attentive to the HSR and LRT project applications in Johor Baru,” he said when presenting the Johor Budget 2024 at the state legislative assembly here today.

Onn Hafiz added that the establishment of the SEZ and SFZ will be a catalyst for the development of the state.

“God willing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government of Singapore and the government of Malaysia will be signed on January 11 next year.

“We hope that the agreement will be signed no later than six months from that date, while its implementation will be expected in early 2025,” he said.

In December 2016, the governments of Malaysia and Singapore signed a bilateral agreement for the implementation of the HSR project involving a distance of 350 kilometers, but the RM110 billion project was postponed in September 2018.

On January 1 last year, the governments of both countries agreed to stop the implementation of the project as no final word was reached after the agreement expired on December 31, 2020.

Last March, the government was reported to be considering the proposed construction of an LRT system in Johor Baru to better coordinate the transport system in the state capital.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke was reported to have said that a private company has put forward a proposal to build the LRT.