U.S. Water News Online
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's southern Johor state will stop buying treated water from neighboring Singapore within six months, its chief minister said.
Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman said Johor will stop paying Singapore for treated water once construction of its $105 million water plant is completed in mid-2003, the Bernama national news agency reported.
Abdul Ghani said Johor currently pays Singapore $1.31 million a year in return for potable water. He said the deal seemed unfair to Johor because it sold untreated water to Singapore for only $780,000 a year.
The price of untreated water that Malaysia supplies to Singapore through Johor is one of several issues -- including border crossings, airspace and disputed territory -- that have marred otherwise close relations between the neighbors over the years.
Under agreements signed in the early 1960s that run until 2061, Singapore pays Malaysia $0.01 per 1,200 U.S. gallons of untreated water.
Malaysia wants to discuss a price that may be adjusted from time to time. Singapore says the rates were due for a review in the mid-1980s, but having missed that, Malaysia has lost its legal right to re-price the deal.
Abdul Ghani added that three water treatment plants presently managed by Singapore's Public Utilities Board in Johor will be taken over by the state government once Malaysia's first water supply agreement with Singapore expires in 2011.
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