KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA's federal government will consult the Johor state government before engaging with Singapore on taking over the management and administration of the Pulau Pisang lighthouse, said Foreign Minister Rais Yatim.
'The federal government will have to do its homework with Johor first. We have not consulted Johor officially yet,' he told reporters yesterday. Dr Rais was asked to comment on calls to take over the management and administration of the lighthouse on the 154ha island from Singapore for fear of losing the island.
This was despite a statement by Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman that ownership of the island was based on a treaty between Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Abu Bakar and the British in 1900, which clearly stated that Malaysia had sovereignty over the island.
Dr Rais said there were at least 110 islands within Malaysian territory near Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Kedah that required mapping and determination of their status.
'That is why people say you only become wiser after an event. If we look at the history of Phuket, it is historically named Bukit (hill in Malay), but Thailand claimed ownership of it. History has shown that we did not do anything about it,' Dr Rais said.
He said he instructed the relevant authorities to carry out homework on the 110 islands and prepare a report for the Cabinet for further action to determine their sovereignty.
On May 23, the International Court of Justice ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Pedra Branca and Malaysia over Middle Rocks.
Meanwhile, Datuk Abdul Ghani said that the Johor state government was open to discussing the federal government's proposal to take over the management of the lighthouse.
But he said several measures had already been taken to consolidate the state's rights over the island, including requiring the personnel managing the lighthouse to register with the Kukup marine department.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Malaysia Should Start Talks To Take Over Lighthouse On Pulau Pisang, Says MP
Bernama 8 Jun 08;
PULAU PISANG (Pontian), June 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia should start negotiations with Singapore to take over the administration and management of the lighthouse in Pulau Pisang from the republic, said Pontian member of parliament Ahmad Maslan.
Ahmad said he had made the request to Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to initiate immediate discussions with the island state on the takeover.
"I hope Pulau Pisang will one day be handed over to Malaysia through diplomatic negotiations. The lighthouse can be a tourist attraction to the island.
"Datuk Seri Rais was receptive to the suggestion," he told reporters at the 53-metre high Pulau Pisang lighthouse, currently managed by staff of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. It is about 1,000 metres above sea level.
Earlier, Ahmad led a 60-member delegation comprising representatives from various government agencies, Umno and the mass media to the 178.4ha Pulau Pisang, located 8km off the Pontian coast.
Though Pulau Pisang is located in the Malaysian territory, the lighthouse is managed by Singapore following an agreement between Sultan Ibrahim of Johor and the British government in 1900.
Following the International Court of Justice's decision that Singapore had sovereignty over Batu Puteh, concerns have arose on the future of Pulau Pisang, which also has a lighthouse run by Singapore, that it would receive the same fate as Batu Puteh.
Pulau Pisang is strategically located at the "southern shipping route of the busy Straits of Melaka.
"We will not allow history to be repeated. Losing Batu Puteh to Singapore is bad enough," said Ahmad, adding that negotiations on Malaysia taking over the management of the lighthouse should not involve the ICJ.
"We need to re-visit the 1900 agreement allowing Singapore to manage the lighthouse on Pulau Pisang," he said.
He said plans to develop Pulau Pisang should be executed as soon as possible to ensure Malaysia's sovereignty on the island would not be challenged by others now and in the future.
In a symbolic gesture that plans to develop Pulau Pisang had started, he said, a surau, costing RM50,000, would be built on Pulau Pisang soon, with Ahmad contributing RM25,000.
He said the federal and state governments had agreed to develop Pulau Pisang for eco-tourism.
"What we need to do now is to promote the potentials of Pulau Pisang as a tourist spot to local and foreign investors.
To spur development, I will propose Pulau Pisang be placed under the development plans of Iskandar Malaysia.
"I believe investors from oil-rich Middle East countries will be interested to develop Pulau Pisang," he added.
-- BERNAMA
Federal Govt Will Confer With Johor Govt On Pulau Pisang Takeover, Says Rais
Bernama 9 Jun 08;
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) -- The federal government will confer with the Johor state government on the taking over of the management and development plans for Pulau Pisang, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Monday.
He said the government also planned to do mapping, surveying and research on the 110 islands in the country whose status had not been specified.
Rais said he believed the Johor government was gamed for the kind of development Pulau Pisang should be endowed with.
"With the consultation and consent with the Johor state government, we will work with Singapore to find out the best solution. As I've said after the Batu Puteh and Middle Rocks issue, we would like to charter a continuous passage of harmony and friendship with our neighbour, a statement which my counterpart in Singapore had shared publicly.
"We will do some homework first in respect of the agreement (between Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor and the British government in 1900 over the management of the lighthouse on Pulau Pisang). The situation is bound by history.
"We would like to do some homework," he told reporters after delivering his welcoming remarks at the Third International Conference themed "The Muslim World and The West: Bridging The Gap".
Rais was responding to the call by Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan on Sunday that Malaysia should start immediate negotiations with Singapore on taking over the management of the lighthouse on Pulau Pisang.
Ahmad had said though Pulau Pisang was located in Malaysian territory, the lighthouse was managed by Singapore under an agreement between Sultan Ibrahim of Johor and the British government in 1900.
Rais also said Malaysia must be aware of the status of her surrounding islands and had asked for a report to be tabled in the Cabinet to decide on for further action to be taken, be it in Sabah, Sarawak, Johor or in Kedah.
"For instance, if we look at the history of Phuket, we owned the island at one time, but history has taken away the island from us. We didn't do anything about it.
"So, we will do our homework for the 110 islands throughout the country. I've asked for a report to be prepared for the Cabinet to decide on further action to be taken on every island owned by Malaysia," he added.
-- BERNAMA