STS PROJECT ’IS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE’
Dr M dismisses claims that Ship-toShip Hub project carried out secretly
PRIME Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed claims that the Ship-to-Ship (STS) Transfer Hub project in Johor had been concluded in a secretive manner.
Expressing surprise that there were those who claimed they were unaware of the project, he said discussions about STS had been ongoing for a long time.
He said even Singapore had been informed about it and the island republic was given an assurance that the project would not encroach on its waters.
“I am surprised there are still those who are unaware of the project.
“I think this is public knowledge. If people don’t know, I don’t have to go around telling people one by one, ‘Do you know about this? Do you know about this? Do you know about this?’
“See, I don’t do that,” he said at a press conference after the signing ceremony between the companies involved in the project here yesterday.
Asked if it had been discussed with the Johor government, Dr Mahathir said:
“What I want to know is if the Johor government wants to reject the project or not.
“So far, it has not rejected,” he said.
On allegations that the STS Hub project was a crony project, Dr Mahathir said all Malaysians were his cronies.
“I work for all Malaysians, including Johoreans,” he said.
Dr Mahathir expressed his surprise when told that Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim was clueless about the project.
“He (Tunku Ismail) is in Johor. Many Johoreans know about this, he doesn’t (so) I am surprised. He knows about a lot of things, but this, he doesn’t know,” he said.
It was reported that Tunku Ismail had reproduced a Facebook posting by Gerakan Muafakat Johor, which claimed the project benefited cronies of certain leaders and that Putrajaya failed to inform the Johor government of the new shipping hub.