A media blitz over a long-running water supply row with Singapore will run for eight days until Sunday, a senior government official said today.

Mustapha Mohamed, executive director of the National Economic Action Council which is in charge of the campaign, said the exercise was aimed at exposing the facts of the dispute to the public.

"We have done a lot of work and research on it. These are the facts, the factual truths," he told reporters.

Senior Minister's visit

He declined to specify how much has been spent on the campaign which began Sunday with full page advertisements in all major daily newspapers here as well as in the Asian Wall Street Journal since Monday.

The ads over the past few days provided figures accusing Singapore of profiteering from the water deals.

Today's ad sought to rebuff Singapore's claim that Malaysia had lost the right to review water price because it failed to do so in 1986-87 under the terms of their agreement.

"If Malaysia has lost the right to review the price of water, why did Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew come to Kuala Lumpur to negotiate the price of water?" it asked.

Lee held talks with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur in September 2001, when they agreed on broad principles over water supplies.

But Malaysia decided to halt talks on the issue last year after failing to secure a price hike and said it was considering taking legal action against Singapore.

Old arguments

Malaysia sells the water to Singapore at three sen (less than one cent) per 1,000 gallons (4,550 litres), supplying half its daily needs under the terms of decades-old agreements.

Singapore has reacted to the Malaysian media blitz by accusing its neighbour of repeating "tired old arguments" that will not resolve the issue.

Water is just one of many key irritants in bilateral relations since Singapore left the Malaysian Federation and gained independence in 1965.

Other disputes include a proposed new bridge linking the countries, use of Malaysian airspace by Singaporean aircraft and ownership of a rocky islet claimed by both countries. - AFP