KL uses water as political tool

KL uses water as political tool

The affluent island state of Singapore is looking beyond Malaysia for its water needs, writes Jacqueline Lee of Inter Press Service.

SINGAPORE: Each time a word war erupts between Malaysia and Singapore, residents of this rich city-state are invariably reminded of their strategic vulnerability -- not in terms of weaponry but of water.

Singaporeans' thoughts turn to their bathing and washing needs, and how being cut off from Malaysian water would put an end to their rather lavish use of this scarce commodity.

In turn, officials constantly assure them that the water supply agreement with Kuala Lumpur is inviolable since it is held in trust by the United Nations. Then they go on to preach about the benefits of conserving and recycling, and how the wise use of water can stretch family budgets.

In short, the issue of water is never too far from Singapore's mind when it comes to ties with Malaysia. Singapore officials are always on the lookout for sources of water other than Malaysia. They are now discussing water agreements with Indonesia and investing in the desalination of seawater to become more self-reliant in water.

When arid Singapore split from what was then called Malaya in 1965, the tiny nation found itself abruptly cut off from Malaysia's rich natural resources. Subsequently, two agreements guaranteeing water supply to Singapore until the year 2061 were finalized.

Under the 1961 and 1962 bilateral agreements, some 1.5 billion liters of raw water from Malaysia's Johor state are piped daily to Singapore reservoirs. Singapore, for its part, returns some 159 million liters of treated water to Malaysia.

Under the 1961 pact which expires in 2011, Singapore is required to pay three Malaysian sen for every 4,500 liters of raw water. After the water is purified in its treatment facilities, Singapore sells potable water back to Johor at 50 Malaysian sen. Both parties consider the pricing fair.

The 1962 accord pegs the volume of water that Singapore can buy at 1.12 billion liters a day. This pact ends in 2061. A third agreement signed in 1965 legally binds the first two pacts -- neither country can unilaterally abrogate them.

So far the current volume of water that Singapore imports remains sufficient to meet its growing needs. Just the same, another accord initiated by Singapore and signed in 1988 provides that should there be an increase in demand, the city-state will pay for the cost of building a new dam and other facilities.

"Water accounts for only a small part of the average household utility bill. But water is not just an economic commodity. It is a strategic resource," said Chan Yoon Kum, director of Singapore's Public Utilities Board (PUB) that signed the first two agreements with the Johor state government.

A PUB study shows that households consume more water than industries, with 45.2 percent of it used for bathing and 21.4 percent on flushing toilets.

Chan says PUB's campaigns are making people aware of the importance of water, but concedes the message is usually forgotten after some time.

Singapore's officials are anything but complacent about the country's reliance on Malaysia on water. Beyond being an everyday need, water is time and again used by Malaysia as a political weapon against Singapore. It does little to help bilateral ties when Malaysia raises the specter of shutting the tap on Singapore when they begin to bicker.

During a bilateral row sparked by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's description of Johor as a crime-infested place, Malaysian politicians and youth leaders urged a second look at water agreements with the city-state.

"We urge the government to review the basis of (water and air space) agreements with Singapore as we have been accommodating, and this has been misinterpreted by Singapore," said Ahmad Zamid Hamidi, youth leader of Malaysia's ruling United Malays Nationalist Organization party.

Statements of this kind are never lost on Singapore, which is generally sensitive to any kind of comment from foreigners. At the recent opening of the Singapore Parliament, President Ong Teng Cheong disclosed how several people have been urging him to look for water sources other than Malaysia.

"I want to assure Singaporeans that the long-term security of Singapore's water supply is a top priority of government," Ong said.

Singapore is now considering a number of solutions, all of them entailing huge capital costs that could push up water rates. The government just announced a new increase in water rates, which will rise by as much as 2.7 times for low users by 2000.

The government is talking with foreign engineering consultants on desalination technology for the treatment of seawater. Officials say they hope the plant, estimated to cost $1.0 billion, can be completed by 2003.

"The PUB is doing a feasibility study to build a desalination plant. If the outcome is positive, we will proceed to build a pilot plant," Chan said. He added that Singapore has linked up with Indonesia in developing water resources in Bintan Island and Sumatra "for our mutual benefit". The projected volume of water to come from Indonesian sources is 4.5 billion liters a day.

There is no shortage of proposals to generate water. One calls for the construction of an underground tunnel to store imported water. Another proposes to enclose the seas around Singapore to transform it into one giant catchment basin.

"We will survive. We may have to pay more for water (in the future) but we will survive," said one Cabinet minister, confident of Singapore's resilience -- but with the threat of drying taps at the back of his mind.

-- IPS