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Tag: Johore

  • Johor wants to review price of raw water

    waterissue

    JOHOR BAHARU: The Johor state government has asked that the issue of the price of raw water supplied to Singapore becomes part of the agenda for discussions in the forth-coming joint meeting between the two
    countries.

    Chairman of the State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee Datuk Ir Hasni Mohammad said Johor wanted the talks on the price of raw water supplied to Singapore to begin immediately.

    “I hope that if there are talks between Malaysia and Singapore, the issue on the review of the price of raw water is included in the agenda. I hope we can begin discussions to work out the next step.

    “The talks should begin immediately,” he told Bernama in an interview here, Tuesday.

    According to agreements signed in 1961 and 1962, Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) would buy raw water from Johor at the rate of three sen every 1,000 gallons.

    Singapore on the other hand would sell treated water to Johor at the price of 50 sen for every 1,000 gallons.

    According to Hasni, Johor sells 250 million liters of raw water to Singapore every day and bought back two percent of that or five million liters in the form of treated water.

    The treated water from Singapore is supplied to residents in parts of Johor Baharu as well as Pontian and Kota Tinggi.

    He said the raw water was the right of the state government and not the federal government or the National Water Services Commission (SPAN). Which was why the state wanted the price to be renegotiated.

    “We have long been in a losing position when we sell raw water to Singapore at three sen (for 1,000 gallons),” he said, adding that the price of treated water sold to Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) and Melaka was too high.

    He believed the good relations that existed between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore would result in a positive outcome on the price of raw water supplied to Singapore.

    “I do not believe that the Singapore government will reject it outright. We hope that the discussions will benefit both parties,” Hasni said. He believed that the discussions would flow smoothly between Malaysia and Singapore and not based on “one country exploiting another.”

    “The talks should be balanced, there cannot be one side that feels pressured,” he said, adding that he understood the water agreement between the two countries could be reviewed.

    Regarding the new price requested by Johor for the raw water supplied to Singapore, he said the federal government had said that a fair price would be 60 sen per 1,000 gallons.

    However, he added, if Singapore raised the price of treated water from 50 sen for 1,000 gallons, it was likely that Johor would increase the price of raw water.

    “If Singapore raised the price of its treated water from 50 sen to RM5.00, we may not increase to 60 sen, but perhaps higher than that,” Hasni said.

    Source: Bernama, MYT

  • Two Checkpoint Officers Who Failed to Stop Malaysian Teacher Face Disciplinary Action

    woodlands checkpoint

    Two immigration officers who failed to stop a Malaysian teacher at both levels of checks at the Woodlands checkpoint, allowing her to slip into Singapore illegally, have been redeployed and face disciplinary action.

    Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean revealed those and more details of the border breach in Parliament on Monday in response to five questions filed by MPs.

    Kedah state native Nurul Ruhana Ishak, 28, evaded Woodlands immigrations officers on Jan 17, and was only arrested three days later. She has been charged with criminal trespass.

    When Nurul slipped past the first check by tailgating a car, the immigration officer concerned consulted another officer and hesitated, and took 2.5 minutes to sound the alarm instead of sounding it immediately, said Mr Teo. The second auxiliary police officer tasked with conducting boot checks and counting vehicle passengers subsequently did not stop Nurul’s car nor did he sound the alarm.

    “I do not know the reason why, they’re not new officers and have been in the service for some years,” said Mr Teo. “Looking at their records, they have been in general good officers.”

    Their slow response compounded the “serious error of judgement” made by multiple agencies when grounds officers “decided to treat [the incident] as a less serious immigrations offence” rather than a “major security breach”.

    This in turn meant that the police “did not put out high level and persistent alerts to all ground forces”, nor was Nurul’s particulars and those of her car circulated.

    No passport or identification was found on her during her arrest on Jan 20, when she tried to force her way into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs compound while in her red Perodua hatchback. That led to the trespass charge.

    She has been in remand at the Institute of Mental Health since, and is due to appear in court for the first time on Feb 26.

    Source: The Straits Times