SINGAPORE - A Singapore minister said today there was no need to consult Malaysia on a reclamation project near the neighbours' maritime border which has raised protests from Kuala Lumpur.

"The reclamation works that we do are a result of our own need for land," Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan told parliament.

"So I do not see why we have to consult Malaysia," said Mah, whose ministry is in charge of the reclamation drive on the narrow Tebrau Strait which separates the tiny city-state from its larger neighbour.

Rejecting criticisms that Singapore's reclamation project was being carried out secretly, Mah said "these are not secret plans."

He said Singapore, a small island-republic, has ben reclaiming land within its territorial waters for more than 30 years to house its people and industries.

"They do not encroach on Malaysian territory. We have carried out these works within our territorial waters," he said.

Malaysia has said the reclamation project could obstruct ships headed for ports in its southern state of Johor, which are being promoted to rival Singapore's port, and officials in Kuala Lumpur have criticised Singapore for ignoring their concerns.

Seven kilometres away

Mah said these concerns were unfounded as Singapore's reclamation works "are about seven kilometres away from the shipping lane" to Malaysia's port of Tanjung Pelepas.

"So there is no possibility that our reclamation will affect access to Tanjung Pelepas port," Mah said.

He reiterated Singapore was still waiting for Kuala Lumpur to list its concerns formally in a letter, an offer put to Malaysia when Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the country recently.

"The Singapore government is still waiting for a note from the Malaysians to understand their concerns more fully," Mah said.

The land reclamation row has put a fresh strain on ties between the neighbours, which have been erratic since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian Federation to become an independent state in 1965.

Water supplies from Malaysia to Singapore, a proposed bridge linking the countries and the use of Malaysian airspace by Singaporean aircraft are among other bones of contention.