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Water War :Time to go back to
negotiation table
Media Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya,
Saturday):
It's most regrettable that
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew, being the supreme leaders of Malaysia and Singapore for more than two
decades, could not resolved long-standing and outstanding issues and
conflicts between the two neighboring countries.
Both PM Khan and SM Lee should
have made use of their positions and relationship to work out solutions for
outstanding issues such as water, airspace, KTM land, CPF, Batu Putih (Pedra
Branca) and the third causeway, when the two countries were enjoying
friendlier relationship and greater political stability.
Not only both leaders could not
resolve these issues at hand; they were even seen to play up these issues in
the respective countries for political mileage.
Take the water issue for
instance.
Both the government leaders do
not give the full picture to their citizens. While many Singaporeans were
not aware that their government was paying 3 sen per thousand gallon of raw
water from Malaysia; and most Malaysians do not know that Malaysia was
getting clean water from Singapore with a discounted price (Malaysia pays 50
sen per thousand gallons).
Even with the release of
booklets the series of advertisements put up by the Malaysian and Singapore
authority, Singaporeans and Malaysians in general still do not get the real
picture of the conflict. The much-talked about booklets and advertisements
do not seem to be helpful for the citizens of the two countries to
understand the issue.
Is there a link between the Malaysia-Singapore water row and the water
treatment plants contract given to a business tycoon in Johor?
The recent water row between
Malaysia and Singapore has been blown out of proportion.
The question of rip-off does
not arise because both countries stand to benefit from the water agreements
signed in 1961 and 1962. The price of raw water at 3 sen per thousand
gallons in exchange for clean water at 50 sen per thousand gallons
should not be seen as unfair, as the cost of cleaning per thousand gallons
is around RM 2.40.
Ask any engineer working with
any water treatment plant should be able to ascertain this fact.
It is counter-productive to
blow up the controversy to the extent of severing the close and symbiotic
ties between the two neighbouring countries. The ordinary people of both
countries would suffer if too much animosity was created by the quarrel.
In the event of Singapore stops
buying raw water from Malaysia, Singapore would have to turn to Indonesia or
other alternatives such as NEWater and desalination. Singapore would need to
spend millions on laying new pipelines to link up with Indonesian waterways.
The costs of NEWater and desalination process are very costly (nothing less
than RM6 per thousand gallons).
While Singapore has a lot to
lose, Malaysia has nothing to gain from stop selling raw water because
Malaysia will cease to enjoy the right to buy clean water at a discounted
price from Singapore. Johor will then need to process its own water at a
cost no less than RM2.40 per thousand gallons. This would simply mean that
Johorians would end up paying a much higher price for clean water.
In fact, the Johor State
government must have anticipated this development. It has gazetted (on June
5, 2003) that the price of water to the Johorians will be increased by 30%
effective from July 1 this year. It looks certain now that Johorians will
have to pay for the higher cost of water treatment, whether Malaysia wins or
loses in the recent water war.
On the other hand, it was
reported recently in the press that a business tycoon was given a contract
to build 14 water treatment plants in Johor. Would this explain why the
Singapore-Malaysia water row was blown out of proportion, so as to justify
the need for Johor to do its own water treatment? This is not far-fetched
and personalities like Johor MB, PM Malaysia and the business tycoon who was
awarded with the contract may be in a better position to explain.
The water issue should not be
too difficult to resolve. There exists a willing buyer and willing seller
situation. Malaysia has plenty of raw water to sell and Singapore needs to
buy a lot of it from Malaysia. If our forefathers could reach those water
agreements before the independence and also in 1961 and 1962, there is no
reason why PM Mahathir and SM Lee could not do the same.
Both governments have proven
that they can work together in tackling the SARS problem. We urge PM
Mahathir and SM Lee to use their influence positively, getting the top
leaders of the two countries to return to the negotiation table as soon as
possible before our relationship deteriorates to an irreparable level.
(1/8/2003)
* Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP
National Publicity Secretary
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