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MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE-POLITICS-WATER
Malaysian PM revives age-old water row with Singapore
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad said Monday he wants to renegotiate a “ridiculous” water supply
agreement with Singapore, the latest sign of fraying ties between the
neighbours since last month’s shock election.
The 92-year-old returned for a second time as premier after his opposition
alliance scored an unexpected victory at the polls, toppling a long-ruling
coalition that Mahathir himself once headed.
During his first stint in charge of the country from 1981-2003, Malaysia
had famously stormy ties with Singapore — and Mahathir has wasted no time in
taking aim at the tiny city-state again.
In his latest salvo, he said it was “manifestly ridiculous” that Kuala
Lumpur sells water for three Malaysian cents (less than one US cent) per
thousand gallons to its resource-poor neighbour.
“That was okay way back in the 1990s or 1930s. But now what can you buy
with three sen (cents)? Nothing,” he told Singapore broadcaster Channel
NewsAsia in an interview.
Asked about plans to renegotiate the long-standing water supply agreement,
he said: “We are studying the case properly and we’ll make a presentation.”
The Singapore government did not immediately respond to requests to
comment.
A large amount of Singapore’s water comes from Malaysia’s southern state of
Johor. Under a 1962 agreement, Singapore can draw upto 250 million gallons of
water per day from the Johor River.
The neighbours have had a difficult relationship since Singapore was
expelled from the Malaysian Federation in 1965 over ethnic issues after a
short-lived, stormy union.
Relations in subsequent decades were punctuated by occasional bickering, on
many occasions over the water supply issue, but were largely warm under the
last Malaysian government, led by scandal-mired Najib Razak. However ties
already look rocky since Mahathir’s return to office.
In just a few weeks, he has put a planned high-speed rail line linking
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on hold, and announced that Malaysia wants to
develop an island on rocks at the entrance to the Singapore Strait, an area
of great strategic importance to the city-state.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1331 hrs