WATER AGREEMENT WITH MALAYSIA (Progress)

Mr Chin Harn Tong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what is the state of progress of the negotiation with Malaysia on the supply of water to Singapore and when will a treaty with Malaysia for this supply be expected to be signed.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (BG Lee Hsien Loong): Mr Speaker, Sir, in March this year, I informed Members on the progress of the water agreement with Malaysia, following the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore on 28th June 1988.

Since March, the Public Utilities Board has completed the site survey and soil investigation works for the Linggiu Dam project. Preliminary site clearance work and the construction of the access road are now in progress. PUB is pre-qualifying contractors for the construction of the Linggiu Dam. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 1992.

PUB is still negotiating the compensation payable for the land required for the project and the pricing formula for the purchase of additional water from Johor with the Malaysians. These two issues were among the matters discussed at a meeting of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on the Johor River Water Resources held on 2nd and 3rd August in Singapore.

After these outstanding issues are resolved, the agreement on water can be signed.

Mr Chin Harn Tong (Aljunied): Sir, I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. First, how dependent is Singapore on Malaysia for its water supply? Secondly, what other alternative and feasible sources of water supply are available to Singapore?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I shall answer in general terms. We have over a period of decades increased our domestic ability to store, purify and supply potable water to Singaporeans. We are pushing it as far as we can. Water is a strategic resource to Singapore, and it is vital to preserve this aspect of our security. Of course, because of the heavy investments which we have put in, and because of our urban environment, the water which we collect in Singapore needs more processing than what we can draw, from the Johor River and it costs more to produce per cubic meter. We can produce more if we need to, but in normal circumstances we see no need to push it to the limits, so we purchase more from Johor. But when it rains in Singapore but not in Johor, then of course we produce more in Singapore. So the proportion varies from time to time. We have adequate supplies here.

As for alternate sources of supply, as you know, in the Middle East, people do desalination. We have looked at it. It is feasible, although there are very few precedents for desalination on the scale which we would need. We have 2(r) million people, not a few tens of thousands. The cost of purifying rain water. It really depends on energy costs. If energy is cheap, then of course we will have distilled water in abundance. It is an option which we do not rule out, but we do not need to embark upon immediately.