KUALA LUMPUR: A 47-year-old man has filed a lawsuit against former Malaysian prime ministers Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin for alleged abuse of public office and negligence over the cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail HSR project.
Mohd Hatta Sanuri, who filed the suit in December 30 last year with Messrs Mohaji, Hazury Ismail, also named former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department of Economy Mustapa Mohamed, former Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong and the government as the three other defendants.
In the statement of claim, Mohd Hatta said that Dr Mahathir, who was then prime minister, had committed tort misfeasance in public office when he decided to postpone the HSR project, causing the government and the Malaysian people to pay compensation of almost RM 46 million S $14.2 million to the Singapore Government.
He claimed that Muhyiddin committed tort misfeasance in public office for terminating the project when he was prime minister, causing the Malaysian government and the people to pay RM 320.3 million as compensation for the cancellation of the bilateral agreement between Malaysia and Singapore.
Mohd Hatta also claimed that Mustapha, who was responsible for managing the project, had committed a similar offence by shelving the project, while Wee committed tort misfeasance in public office for denying Malaysians their right to enjoy a first-class transport system.
He is seeking a court order to declare the cancellation of the project null and void, and for all defendants to pay 1 million compensation to him and all Malaysians for wrongly cancelling the HSR project.
Mohd Hatta is a member of the Kuala Selangor Municipal Council. He is also a member of the Parti Amanah Negara Amanah a component party of the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
When contacted by CNA, he said he filed the suit in his capacity as an individual and not as a member of Amanah.
On January 1, 2021, Malaysia and Singapore announced the termination of the 350 km HSR project as the two countries didn't reach an agreement on changes proposed by Malaysia before the end of the project agreement on December 31, 2020.
Malaysia paid $102.8 million in compensation to Singapore for the costs of the HSR project.
The travel time from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore would have been shortened by the 350 km HSR, from the current 11 hours on existing train services.
The case management of the suit was set for February 2 by High Court Senior Assistant Registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar.