KL wants mediation on S'pore water row

KL wants mediation on S'pore water row

Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's prime minister called on Friday for arbitration to
resolve a row with Singapore over water supply and said he would
push through a plan to build a bridge across the strait between
the two neighbors.

Mahathir Mohamad quashed any lingering thoughts of a new round
of talks on the water issue, saying arbitration was the only way
out.

"I think the period of talking and negotiating is now over,"
the veteran leader told a news conference. "We want to have
arbitration according to the provisions of the agreement."

Singapore lies at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula,
separated by a narrow strait. The two nations, which separated in
1965 after a brief union in the years following independence from
Britain, have deep economic ties but relations have sometime been
prickly.

They have long been at odds over the price of untreated water
Malaysia provides under two deals signed in the early 1960s with
its resource-poor but prosperous neighbor.

Other bilateral spats include overlapping claims on a rocky
islet, use of Malaysian airspace by Singapore fighters and the
replacement of a road/rail causeway connecting the two nations.

Mahathir took a swipe at Singapore over its reluctance to help
replace the half-kilometer (500-yard) causeway, built by the
British colonial government in 1924.

He said Malaysia would go ahead with a plan to build a US$290
million bridge on its waters and then merge it with the old
causeway at the Singapore end.

"We have no choice but to design a bridge that looks a bit
odd. If not, we cannot gain the right height and the right
inclination," he said after awarding a contract to a Malaysian
group building the bridge.

Mahathir said the structure would allow vessels of not more
than 25 meters in height to sail through, allowing the movement
of cargo from Malaysia's Pasir Gudang and Port of Tanjung
Pelepas.