Najib: Sale of sand is Singapore's idea 

Malaysiakini – 29/4/2006
Deputy Premier Najib Tun Razak has clarified that the idea on the sale of sand and the use of Malaysian airspace by Singapore's aircraft as conditions for the construction of the bridge to replace the Johor Causeway came from the island republic. 

He said the matter was brought to the attention of the cabinet after it was raised at the meeting between officers of the two countries. 

"However, the cabinet had decided that selling sand and allowing Singapore to use our airspace would be difficult to accept, especially by the Malaysian public. 
"So, we made that decision (to abort the bridge project)," Bernama quoted the deputy premier as saying in Putrajaya late yesterday. 

"The cabinet has decided on the matter and it is obvious that we have no intention to sell sand," Najib said. 

The latest statement by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the bridge issue stated absolutely that he could not accept the reason for the cancellation of the project by the government. 
Probe Mahathir's allegation

Yesterday, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang urged the Anti-Corruption Agency to investigate the allegation by Mahathir who had implicated an unnamed Malaysian leader in a conflict-of-interest situation in selling sand to Singapore. 

On Thursday, Mahathir fired yet another salvo in the on-going war of words over the government’s decision to abandon the half-bridge project across the Causeway to Singapore. 

This time he launched a broadside against ambassador-at-large Fuzi Abdul Razak - the man picked by the government to be its spokesperson on the bridge issue - dismissing the diplomat’s 17-page explanation as “rambling”. 
Source: www.malaysiakini.com