Fresh Singapore-Malaysia row erupts over water supply

FRESH tensions emerged Tuesday between Singapore and Malaysia over a proposed long-term water supply agreement, with Singapore accusing its neighbor of reneging on previous deals.

In unusually strong comments issued after an apparent Malaysian media leak of details from confidential negotiations, a spokesman for Singapore's foreign ministry accused Malaysia of distorting the picture.

"The Malaysians were the ones who had wanted the negotiations to be kept confidential. They seem to have changed their minds," said the spokesman, reacting to an article in Malaysia's mass-circulation Star newspaper.

In the weekend article, based on comments from an unnamed Malaysian official, Singapore was told to look elsewhere for long-term water supply.

The Singapore spokesman, who was also not named, said that if the talks failed to make as much progress as expected, "this is because the Malaysian officials have chosen to disregard agreements" reached between Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad.

The two countries, which separated bitterly in 1965 and have gone through periodic bilateral crises since then, are discussing a long-term water supply agreement for wealthy but resource-starved Singapore.

Under present deals that will lapse in 2061, Singapore gets raw water from southern Malaysia's Johore state, and sells back treated water to Malaysia. They are discussing a new 100-year water deal.

The water fight comes on top of another festering disagreement over the fate of more than two billion US dollars' worth of frozen shares in Malaysian companies held mostly by Singapore investors.

The shares had been traded in an offshore market in Singapore which was shut down after Malaysia imposed capital controls in September. The two countries' stock exchanges are trying to resolve the problem, with Malaysia rejecting government intervention to end the impasse.

On the water issue, the Singapore spokesman said the Malaysians "have insisted on starting the negotiations from scratch and made many new demands."

The spat stems from disagreements over future volumes of raw water supply and pricing.

The Malaysians have accused Singapore of profiteering in the resale of water, and refused to commit huge volumes of raw water in the next century, saying they have to look after their own needs.

The Singapore spokesman dismissed the profiteering charges, saying it sells water at below treatment cost.

The spokesman also rejected the suggestion that Singapore's request for 750 million gallons of water a day by 2161, compared to 350 million gallons at present, was excessive.

"It is based on projections of our population growth and economic requirements and our estimated per capita water consumption in the year 2061," the spokesman said, citing Taipei and Bangkok as models.

"In any case, we have always told Malaysia that our request for water beyond 2061 is contingent on Malaysia satisfying its own needs first," he said, adding that another Malaysian state, Pahang, could also provide water.

The Singapore spokesman said the city-state would "continue to take a constructive approach" to the water negotiations, which will resume between now and August with Malaysia hosting the next round.