Malaysia: Will Forest City issue affect ties with Singapore?

SIM BAK HENG New Straits Times 23 Dec 14;

JOHOR BARU: JOHOR lawmakers fear that Malaysia and Singapore may be embroiled in a diplomatic row once the detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) report of the controversial Forest City project is approved.

They are worried about the possibility of retribution from Singapore, citing the republic’s reclamation works in Pulau Tekong and Tuas more than 10 years ago as an example.

Malaysia was prompted to file a case with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) following Singapore’s actions then.

A state assemblyman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this could become a reality should the Department of Environment (DOE) approve the DEIA report.

“The Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on Environment was formed following the ITLOS decision on Pulau Tekong in 2004.

“I hope both governments can work together to resolve the Forest City reclamation issue.

“If it is brought to the ITLOS for arbitration, it can affect investors’ confidence in Johor and Iskandar Malaysia.”

In the Pulau Tekong and Tuas reclamation cases, the biggest reclamation works ever undertaken by the republic, Malaysia had pursued the matter with the arbitral tribunal, despite Singapore’s assurance that it had undertaken all mitigation measures.

Several mitigation measures have been proposed in Forest City’s DEIA report, but the assemblyman said this did not guarantee that Singapore would be pacified.

“Bringing the case to the arbitral tribunal does not bode well for cordial bilateral ties (between Malaysia and Singapore), which is needed to speed up several impending projects, including the Rapid Transit System connecting Johor Baru and Woodlands in Singapore,” said another assemblyman.

In 2002, it was reported that Malaysia had alleged that Singapore’s land reclamation works in Pulau Tekong and Tuas, inter alia, had impinged on Malaysia’s territorial waters, caused pollution and other adverse harm to the marine environment in the Straits of Johor.

The matter culminated in Malaysia invoking the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and referring the dispute to arbitration.

Subsequently, Malaysia applied to ITLOS for provisional measures to stop Singapore’s land reclamation works pending the outcome of the arbitration.

In 2005, agents for the respective governments appeared before the arbitral tribunal at the Peace Palace in The Hague and took turns to read a joint statement informing the tribunal that the two governments had reached an ad referendum agreement to settle the dispute.

Eventually, both governments signed a settlement agreement, marking an amicable resolution of the dispute.

The New Straits Times yesterday front-paged a report on the controversy generated by the massive project, which involves four reclaimed islands.

The project has created uneasiness because of the massive reclamation works involved, environmental issues and concerns raised by Singapore.

The DEIA had to be carried out following a diplomatic note from Singapore, which had asked for more details of the project and its impact on the Straits of Johor, as the project was situated near the Malaysia-Singapore boundary and involved coastal reclamation.

The DOE is expected to pass its verdict on the DEIA report on the project by this week.