KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 – Timeline, cost management and detailed design for the two new bridges between Malaysia and Thailand should be discussed and finalised soon in order to complete the project, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman. Anifah and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai discussed the matter when they co-chaired the 13th Joint Commission (JCM) for Bilateral Cooperation and fourth Joint Development Strategy (JDS) for Border Areas ministerial meetings here Thursday.
The two new bridges are the Second Bridge Link at Rantau Panjang-Sungai Golok and Bridge Link at Pengkalan Kubor-Tak Bai. Anifah said in a statement that the ministers reiterated the need for both sides to adhere to the agreed timeline in implementing the projects. The ministers noted that both sides would begin discussions on the cost management soon.
Anifah said that the ministers also agreed on the need to expedite the necessary detailed design for the two bridges to ensure both leaders can officiate the groundbreaking ceremonies next year. He also added that unless we can complete these two key projects, it would be difficult for us to transition from the current JDS Action Plan to the Second JDS Action Plan.
Apart from those projects, the ministers also exchanged views on cooperation in rubber, including on the establishment of a rubber city, where the plan could link the two rubber cities to ensure they could complement each other. He said the designated location for the rubber city in Thailand is at the Chalung Industrial Estate in Songkhla province while the proposed site in Malaysia is Ladang Bukit Ketpang in Kedah.
The meeting also discussed bilateral issues, among others, security cooperation along the borders, including prevention of human trafficking and confidence-building measures in southern Thailand. The ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues such as combating human trafficking, illegal immigrants and environmental issues that included transboundary haze pollution.
