Recommendations on what to do next will be ready soon, says Najib
Straits Times 26 May 08;
JOHOR BARU - DEPUTY Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday advised Malaysians to stay away from Middle Rocks for now, even as a top official and an academician said Malaysian fishermen could now go to the area.
He said Malaysia's technical committee was still preparing recommendations on what to do next, following the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling last Friday that Malaysia had sovereignty over Middle Rocks.
Datuk Seri Najib said the recommendations were expected to be ready in two weeks' time.
'Wait for the technical committee to come up with its recommendations and then we will advise accordingly. Otherwise, there will be some confusion on the ground,' he said.
Malaysia's Marine Police commander Isa Munir also warned people against going to the area.
'We have to wait for the decision by the government,' he told the Sunday Star daily.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar yesterday said Malaysia will not send enforcement agencies to patrol the area in Middle Rocks to avoid sending an aggressive signal to Singapore, reported The Star.
'It is clear that Middle Rocks is ours and we have an interest to protect, but both countries must work out the best way possible to create an understanding,' he said.
The ICJ gave Singapore ownership of Pedra Branca - which Malaysia calls Pulau Batu Puteh - while giving Malaysia ownership of Middle Rocks, two smaller outcrops nearby.
The court did not make a definitive ruling on a third rock, South Ledge, which is visible only at low tide. The court said it belongs to whoever owns the territorial waters it sits in.
Mr Najib was commenting on reports that Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, Co-agent for Malaysia in the Pedra Branca case, had said the ICJ decision meant fishermen could go into the area for the first time in 22 years.
She was also quoted by local newspapers as saying Singapore's powers are limited by the decision because the Middle Rocks outcrops went to Malaysia.
The Mingguan Malaysia quoted her as saying that the decision allows Malaysia to carry out activities in waters around Middle Rocks, including placing its navy ships, carrying out meteorological studies and control of the airspace.
Professor Nik Anuar Nik Mahmud from the National University of Malaysia also said fishermen and the air force would now have access to the area.
'We have been denied entry to that locality since 1986 after Singapore took control of Pulau Batu Puteh and the two maritime features. The Republic has lost that exclusivity now,' he was quoted as saying in the New Sunday Times.
International Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin urged Singapore to consider the livelihood of Johor residents, especially fishermen, who had been using Pedra Branca for generations as a stopover when going out to fish.
He also disagreed with Foreign Minister Rais Yatim's earlier proclamation that it was a 'win-win' situation for both countries.
'We lost it (Pedra Branca). I will not say it is a win-win situation,' he told reporters.
