Najib has work cut out if third bridge is not to be stillborn

NUSAJAYA— Datuk Seri Najib Razak will have to do some major damage control with the Sultan of Johor if he wants his proposal to build a third bridge linking Johor and Singapore to become a reality.

Today’s public statement by the sultan that he would not support the project and the circumstances in which the rejection of the bridge project was delivered was aimed at showing the extent of his displeasure to the Najib administration.

The sultan arrived at the spanking new state assembly in Kota Iskandar to open the legislative assembly sitting. He inspected the guard-of-honour mounted by the Johor Military Force and then proceeded to the VIP holding area.

Then he told the Tengku Mahkota to read the prepared text and announced that he was leaving. As directed, the Tengku Mahkota read the text, which was prepared by the state government. But at the end, he informed the assembly that he had a royal order to announce, and noted that the sultan was against the proposal to build a third bridge linking Desaru and Changi and that the project would not take off.

The Tengku Mahkota then left the assembly.

So what triggered this adverse reaction from the Johor Sultan? Firstly, state officials say that he was not consulted on the project by the Federal Government.

A day before the Prime Minister visited Singapore, he was granted an audience by the sultan. The bridge proposal was not raised at this meeting and the first time the Ruler heard about it was after it was raised in bilateral discussions between Najib and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Even more grating to the royal household was the widespread coverage in the papers about the project, especially during Lee Kuan Yew’s recent eight-day trip to Malaysia.

Johor civil servants also say that instead of building a third bridge, efforts should be made to drive traffic into JB city. This is where the royal palace is and the seat of the throne. Yet, little resources are being spent to modernise the city centre, with more focus on Medini and now Desaru.

To be sure, even if the Najib administration had informed the sultan of the project, there is no guarantee that he would have supported the proposal to build a third bridge.

The reason: the sultan has been displeased with the loss of Pulau Batu Putih to the republic. The International Court of Justice ruled in favour of Singapore.

Given this antipathy, the fact that Johoreans will not agree to lift the ban on sand and the sultan’s displeasure at being kept in the dark about the project, Najib will have to launch a massive charm offensive to put the third bridge back on the Malaysia-Singapore agenda. (TMI)