Noting that the new date was only 20 months away, Umno Supreme Council member Ahmad Maslan said the suspension meant the government would have to pay Singapore RM45 million for abortive costs incurred.

“Is this not wasteful? With RM45 million you can build roads, bridges, schools and clinics. But now, that money is going to waste just because Pakatan Harapan (PH) wants to be different from Barisan Nasional (BN).

“The project should not be deferred. The federal government does not need to do wasteful things,” he told reporters after a ceramah at Desa Baiduri last night where he had campaigned for MCA’s Balakong candidate Tan Chee Teong.

Ahmad, a former deputy minister, had been asked to comment on the formalisation of a supplementary agreement between Malaysia and Singapore to defer the HSR project until May 31, 2020.

The agreement was signed by Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali and Singapore’s Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

The RM45 million will have to be paid by the end of January next year.

According to Azmin, the government had sought to suspend the deal inked under the previous BN administration due to “prevailing economic conditions” in the country.

Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the head of BN’s strategic communications unit, earlier questioned the logic of deferring the project until 2020, saying the construction cost by then would surely be higher.

“PH previously said they wanted to cancel the project because the cost was too high. But why is it that in 2020, the HSR can be continued? Wouldn’t the cost be higher then due to time and inflation of construction costs?

“Last time they wanted to cancel it because it was costly. Now they want to continue when it is more costly. It’s illogical!” he said in a series of tweets.

He added that the RM45 million was enough to develop five primary schools in rural areas or build 643 units of low-cost housing.