S'pore's, Malaysia to tackle differences

S'pore's, Malaysia to tackle differences

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

Singaporean Foreign Minister S.Jayakumar arrived in Malaysia on
Sunday, a day ahead of talks to iron out longstanding disputes
that have strained relations between the two neighbors.

Jayakumar, who is due to meet Malaysian foreign minister Syed
Hamid Albar on Monday, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport (KLIA) with a delegation of ministry officials, an
airport spokesman told AFP.

The two-day meeting would be the first ministerial-level
discussion which would include, among others, details of a
mutually agreeable "package deal" to calculate the price
Singapore will pay for importing water from Malaysia.

Singapore buys half of its daily water from Malaysia's Johor
state at three sen (less than one US cent) per 1,000 gallons.

Malaysia has accused its neighbor of profiteering from "cheap"
Johor water under agreements dating back to the early 1960s.

Malaysia and Singapore, the best of neighbors and sometimes
worst of rivals, will try this week to reach a landmark pact on
the thorniest issue in their relationship -- water.

Differences over the quantity and price of water provided by
Malaysia to Singapore has extended into many bilateral problems
that officials will try to resolve in two days of talks in Kuala
Lumpur beginning on Monday.

But a history of mistrust and doubts over Malaysia's foreign
policy after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's scheduled
resignation late next year could set back any long-yielding
agreement, analysts said.

Led by the foreign ministers of the two countries, the
talkshop will see Malaysia tabling a formula for fixing the price
of both raw and treated water that it supplies to its tiny island
neighbor from its southern state of Johor, officials said.

The formula, yet to be made public, was proposed by Mahathir
to Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in March after several
previous talks made little headway.

Long-time observers of relations between the two countries
said they did not expect this week's meeting to get beyond
setting the stage for further talks.

"Singapore always wants everything its way and the Malaysians
are very wary of this, so they keep shifting the goal posts
everytime they talk," political commentator M.G.G. Pillai said.

Mahathir had earlier called for "a certain level of
compromise" on Singapore's part, saying it was "ridiculous" to
sell water to the republic at three sen when Hong Kong buys water
from mainland China at eight ringgit (2.10 dollars) per 1,000
gallons.

Mahathir said that Malaysia had no objections if Singapore
decided not to buy raw water from Johor.

"It is fine if Singapore does not want to buy our water. There
will come a time when Johor will be short of water," he said.

Syed Hamid has said Malaysia was willing to continue the
supply of water to Singapore for another 100 years after the
current pact expires in 2061, but the city-state must be open to
paying a higher price.

"Malaysia does not want to continue to be shackled or haunted
by the water problem. If Singapore has an open attitude and wants
to reach a consensus, then we can move forward in our
relationship without looking back," he said.

Both governments have expressed hopes that some progress will
be made to resolve longstanding tiffs, but with a long list of
thorny issues on the Monday's agenda, finding the ultimate
solution that has eluded all previous encounters is unlikely.

Apart from water, other irritants include a proposed bridge
linking the countries, the use of Malaysian airspace by
Singaporean aircraft, and the location of Malaysia's customs,
immigration and quarantine facility in Singapore.

Many of the problems have strained relations since the city-
state was kicked out of the Malaysian Federation in 1965, while
modern issues now affecting ties include Malaysia's intention to
replace the tiny republic as the regional business hub in
Southeast Asia.