Malaysian high commissioner to Singapore Azfar Mustafar said it is logical for Singapore to buy the land. However, he said Malaysia has not decided if it wants to sell or swap the land.

“Singapore has written to Malaysia (for the purchase of the land). The relevant authority in Malaysia is deliberating and looking into it.

“So far, we have not received any feedback from the relevant authority,” he told Malaysian journalists here yesterday.

According to Azfar, all government land abroad is registered under the federal lands commissioner.

He said Singapore had expressed its intention last year to buy the freehold land totalling nearly 1ha.

Azfar said he had proposed a land swap, but the federal government will decide on the matter.

In September 2010, Singapore and Malaysia had sealed a land swap deal to resolve the acquisition involving Malayan Railway land in the republic. The land consisted of three plots in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, as well as three in Bukit Timah.

In exchange, Singapore offered four parcels of land in Marina South and two parcels in Ophir-Rochor.

The Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) recently said it will be redeveloping the Woodlands checkpoint for a more sustainable and long-term solution to address the chronic congestion at the land crossing which connects the republic with Malaysia.

The redeveloped Woodlands checkpoint will begin operations progressively from 2028.

The ICA said it had conducted extensive feasibility and technical studies to determine the optimal amount of land needed to meet future demands.

The land required for the redevelopment of the Woodlands checkpoint can only be met through land acquisition and land reclamation.

Ased whether Malaysia still owns land in Singapore, Azfar said: “We (federal government) have several pockets of land around the island. One of them is an acre at Holland Village.”

However, he said this did not include land owned by Johor in the republic.