Users of Straits 'should be charged'

Users of Straits 'should be charged'

SINGAPORE (DPA): Participants at an international conference unanimously agreed users of the Malacca and Singapore Straits should be charged to defray costs of infrastructure enhancing navigational safety and environmental protection, delegates said on Saturday.

Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia currently pay the tab.

"It is inequitable for the coastal states alone to be responsible for shouldering the responsibility" for all the maritime infrastructure needed, Singapore Minister for Communications and Information Technology told the International Maritime Organization's conference.

Although the participants agreed in principle on sharing the charges, a funding mechanism remained a bone of contention at the conference which started in Singapore on Thursday.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, user states and straits states must cooperate in maintenance.

Yeo stressed the need for an internationally agreed upon framework and said Singapore is prepared to contribute a fair share.

He sought a mechanism that would continue to allow unimpeded passage of ships and be managed by an international entity and a fund that was uniformly applied with no discrimination.

Both straits have been described by the London-based International Maritime Bureau as lairs for pirates who operate in the waters from speed boats.