M’sia Minister: Water Price Discussion Between M’sia & S’pore Will Resume After COVID-19 Pandemic

In a country where you can basically use as much water as you want, the taps may seem like an infinite source of water.

But this, of course, is an illusion.

Due to our lack of natural resources, we have to import water from Johor in Malaysia through a pipeline. This was part of an agreement made between the two countries back in 1962.

Naturally, when you have such an agreement in place, conflict is bound to arise.

Discussion On Water Price Between M’sia & S’pore Will Only Resume After COVID-19 Pandemic

Negotiations over the right to review water prices have stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but will resume once both countries have “recovered completely”.

Speaking about the issue, Malaysia’s Minister of Environment and Water Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that this particular issue between the two countries involves bilateral diplomatic relations, which is why the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is involved.

According to Mr Tuan Ibrahim, Malaysia’s stance on the issue is very clear: Malaysia retains the right to revise the price of raw water it sells to Singapore as stipulated under the 1962 Johor River Water Agreement.

But this view may not be shared by the Singaporean authorities.

MFA: Malaysia Has Lost Right to Review Price of Water

Back in 2019, when PMD riders were the only thing we had to worry about outside, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a bold statement. 

Malaysia has lost the right to review the price of water under the 1962 Water Agreement.

“No review of the price of water has taken place,” the ministry said then.

When Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad met in 2018 to discuss the issue, both expressed “differing views”.

What Does the 1962 Agreement Say?

Signed on 29 September 1962 between Singapore and the government of the state of Johor, the agreement gives Singapore the right to draw 250 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from the Johor River.

In return, Johor is entitled to a daily supply of treated water from Singapore of up to 2% or 5 mgd of the raw water it supplies.

However, it has been supplying 16 mgd of treated water to Malaysia at its request.

Under the agreement, Singapore pays 3 sen per thousand gallons of raw water and sells treated water back to Johor at 50 sen per thousand gallons, which is a fraction of the cost of treatment.

The 1962 agreement did have a provision that allowed a price review after 25 years, but the Johor government chose not to revise it in 1987.

The agreement will expire in 2061.

Last year, Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said that any review of the price of raw water sold to Singapore will also mean a review of the price of treated water sold to Johor.

Meanwhile, let’s all remember that water is precious and that we’re lucky to have enough of it.

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