SINGAPORE - Singapore said Tuesday it will be able to let one of two water agreements with Malaysia lapse in 2011, serving notice the city-state is increasingly becoming self-sufficient for its water needs.
Foreign Minister S Jayakumar said it was within Singapore's capability to produce enough water to replace the volumes lost if a 1961 agreement is not renewed after it expires in nine years.
After a second agreement signed in 1962 expires in 2061, Singapore will continue to buy water from Malaysia only if the price is competitive with the cost of locally treated water, he told parliament.
Resource-starved Singapore is reliant on Malaysia for half of its daily water needs, and is resorting to technology to turn waste water into something consumable to cut this dependence.
An international panel of experts recently certified the recycled waste water is safe to drink.
Two water treatment plants are to start operations next year and two more will come on stream in 2011 to augment water sourced from local reservoirs and catchment basins.
"So we can allow the 1961 agreement to lapse in 2011. It is within our means to produce sufficient water to replace the water from the 1961 agreement," Jayakumar said.
The government has declined to give specific volumes.
Right price
After the expiry of the second accord in 2061, Singapore is "still prepared to buy some water from Malaysia ... but the price must be right," he said.
"After 2061 when the 1962 agreement expires, it will only make economic sense for us to continue to buy additional water from Malaysia if the cost of that water is less than the (cost of the) water we can produce ourselves."
The water issue has been a key irritant in bilateral ties since Singapore was kicked out of the Malaysian Federation and became a separate state in 1965.
Other issues involve a proposed bridge linking the countries, the use of Malaysian airspace by Singaporean aircraft and the location of Malaysia's customs, immigration and quarantine facilities in Singapore.
Jayakumar and his Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar ended talks earlier this month but failed to reach agreement on the water and issues.
Jayakumar told parliament both sides must negotiate in the spirit of "give and take" to overcome differences, but insisted that any settlement in the water dispute must be part of an overall package involving all the problems.
He said another ministerial level meeting was being arranged, this time hosted by Singapore.
"The issues are complex and I don't think it will be easy to reach an agreement just after one or two meetings," he said. — AFP
