MALAYSIA moved to reassure its southern neighbour on two major issues – water and the high-speed railway (HSR) project – with Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah saying that it will honour the 1962 water deal, reports the Straits Times.

The minister told the Singapore daily that the HSR is the more “immediate and urgent” matter than “turning off the taps”, following remarks from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Malaysia wants to renegotiate a longstanding water supply agreement with the island, calling the existing deal as “too costly”.

“Water is like our nerve system. We honour our nearest neighbour. Malaysia and Singapore have always enjoyed that special relationship. The idea is how we go about to continue from where we have stopped in the negotiation,” Saifuddin told the Straits Times yesterday.

Saifuddin is to visit Singapore next week for an Asean foreign ministers’ meeting and his remarks come on the heels of the Pakatan Harapan government’s move to relook a number of contracts signed by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

Among these are the HSR and the Chinese-financed East Coast Rail Link and the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline projects, which are overinflated.

Putrajaya’s focus is on HSR, he told the paper. Last week, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said Malaysia will review the HSR project in its entirety and will lead talks to renegotiate its terms and conditions.

Azmin will be in the republic next Tuesday.

The 350km HSR project was signed by the Najib Razak administration and is estimated to cost RM110 billion.

Meanwhile, under the 1962 water deal, which expires in 2061, Malaysia supplies Singapore 250 million gallons of raw water daily at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons. Malaysia buys back a portion of that, treated, at 50 sen per 1,000 gallons.

During his first tenure as prime minister, Dr Mahathir at one point threatened to turn off the taps when negotiations hit a rough patch. In response, then Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said he was prepared to send troops to Malaysia. –  July 25, 2018.