KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Allegations that Malaysia sold its railway land in Tanjung Pagar to Singapore are not true, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem said KTM Berhad’s (KTMB) land there was leased to the Federated Malay States by the Straits Settlement government for the purpose of rail services on Oct 25, 1918.

“The Singapore railway land leased was 434.26 acres (173.7 hectares). Out of this, 352.52 acres (141 hectares) was to be held by the Federal Land Commissioner for a period of 999 years while 81.74 acres (32.7 hectares) for perpetuity.

“If the land was no longer used for rail services, it has to be returned to the respective Straits Settlement government (Singapore) without any compensation whatsoever. As such, such allegations are not true because the land is not ours,” he said when replying to a question from Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian).

He also said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was scheduled to make a working visit to Singapore within the next three months to finalise details on the agreement reached between the two countries on the KTMB land in Tanjong Pagar.

Najib and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong reached an agreement to resolve outstanding issues on the KTMB land in Tanjong Pagar during his visit to the city state in May.

Lee made a reciprocal visit to Kuala Lumpur last month, among others, to discuss further the Points of Agreement between the two countries on the KTMB land in Tanjong Pagar. — Bernama