Singapore rebuts Johor CM's flood claim
By TODAY | Posted: 01 February 2007 1128 hrs

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JOHOR BARU — According to a senior Malaysian official, even the recent floods in Johor Baru are Singapore's fault.

Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman told the New Straits Times that it was Singapore's reclamation project on Tekong island, close to the Johor river, that caused it to flood.

Mr Abdul Ghani claimed that this caused the mouth of the river to narrow and excess rain water could not be discharged. The river then burst its banks in Kota Tinggi, he said, submerging homes and streets.

Singapore has rebutted the claim and even Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has distanced himself from his colleague's statement.

"There are all sorts of allegations but we can't reach any conclusion unless a thorough technical study is done on the cause of floods in Johor," he said. "The actual cause of the floods is exceptionally heavy rainfall."

Meanwhile Singapore's Ministry of National Development (MND) said in response to media queries: "The comments are unfounded. This is confirmed by the results from the technical studies that were commissioned separately by both the Malaysian government and the Singapore government."

The studies were carried out as part of the proceedings before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to settle the dispute on Singapore's land reclamation works at Pulau Tekong and Tuas View Extension.

The MND pointed out that a study carried out by Malaysia's Department of Irrigation and Drainage in 2002 on the impact of the reclamation works should there were no appreciable changes to the water levels within the Straits of Johor for flood flows.

"As such, the study concluded that there is no increased flooding due to Singapore's reclamation works," said the MND. Other studies came to similar conclusions.

Both governments then accepted that it would not be necessary for the flood impact to be assessed any further.

"There is, therefore, no scientific basis to the allegations that the flood is caused by Singapore's land reclamation works in Pulau Tekong," said the MND.

The Johor administration has come under increasing pressure in the wake of the floods that killed 17 people and left Malaysia with a massive RM1.5 billion bill — the cost of helping the flood victims and repairing roads and schools. About 30,000 people are still taking shelter at relief centres.

Until now the Johor government had not pointed fingers at anybody over the floods. In fact, it had been banking on visitors from Singapore to help bring its economy back on its feet. - TODAY/sh