Bernama: Full Contents Of Letters On Bridge Project To S’pore Made Public
Full Contents Of Letters On Bridge Project To S’pore Made Public (Source)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) — The government Saturday made public the full contents of correspondence between former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and two of Singapore’s former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong on the aborted bridge project to Singapore to replace the Johor Causeway.
The copies of four letters, two signed by Dr Mahathir and the other two by Goh can now be accessed on Bernama’s online news portal www.bernama.com under the banner "Correspondence between Tun Dr Mahathir and former Singapore Prime Ministers".
The government declassified the confidential documents Friday to rebut allegations by Dr Mahathir over its decision on April 12 to scrap the project.
The former prime minister had, among the other things, alleged that the Singapore government had accepted Malaysia’s proposal to build a crooked bridge, that the bridge was not part of a package of outstanding bilateral issues and that Malaysia had put the issue of selling of sand and allowing the Republic of Singapore Airforce to use its air space on the negotiating table.
In a statement Friday, the Prime Minister’s Department said this was only the second time in recent history that documents classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) had been made public to "put the record straight and allow Malaysians to understand" its decision to scrap the project.
It said the negotiations on discussions with Singapore on the airspace issue were not new and were not mooted by the current government under Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Dr Mahathir as the then prime minister himself included this issue as a trade-off and part of the package of issues to be resolved with Singapore during negotiations from 1998 to 2002.
This is evident from Dr Mahathir’s letter to the then Senior Minister Lee on March 4, 2002 and the same issue was raised by the then Senior Minister Goh during a meeting with Abdullah on March 1, 2005.
This nullifies Dr Mahathir’s allegations that it was the present administration that offered SAF jets use of Malaysian airspace.
The sale of sand to Singapore was raised by the island republic during a meeting between Abdullah and Goh on March 1, 2005, nullifying the argument that the government put the issue of sand on the negotiating table.
The contents of the letters released Saturday showed that in a letter to Goh dated Oct 7, 2002 Dr Mahathir unilaterally terminated negotiations on a package basis with Singapore by saying Malaysia had decided to give the highest priority to first resolving the long-delayed water issue.
In his reply dated Oct 14, Goh told Dr Mahathir since he wanted to deal with the water issue separately and discontinue the package approach, these trade-offs are no longer possible.
"As the package deal is off, I have instructed my officials to deal with water and other issues individually and separately, on their own stand-alone merits, and no longer as a package," said Goh in the letter.
The prime minister’s department statement also said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had strongly advised that Malaysia should not proceed to build a bridge unilaterally without complying with legal obligations.
The main obstacle to the construction of the crooked bridge would involve the demolition of the Malaysian side of the Johor Causeway and this would directly affect the water pipelines owned by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore.
Under the 1961 and 1962 Johor-Singapore Water Agreements, Malaysia is required to obtain the PUB’s approval in relation to the alteration of water pipelines resulting from the construction of the bridge.
"The government has always stated that its decision is a political decision based on sentiments, sovereignty and integrity of the people of Malaysia," the statement said.
– BERNAMA
