SINGAPORE: Malaysia and its southern Johor state will not be renegotiating raw water rates with Singapore yet, according to a minister.
“Following discussions in October 2024 with the Johor chief minister (Onn Hafiz Ghazi) and the ministry, it was decided that the review of raw water rates does not need to be negotiated at this time,” Malaysia’s Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir told parliament on Monday (Dec 2).
Mr Akmal was responding to a query from MP for Pasir Gudang Hassan Abdul Karim, who asked whether the government will discuss the possibility of revisiting the terms of the 1962 Johor River Water Agreement.
The agreement entitles Singapore to draw up to 250 million gallons a day (mgd) of water from the Johor River.
Singapore pays 3 Malaysian sen per thousand gallons of raw water and sells treated water back to Johor at 50 sen per thousand gallons, a fraction of the cost of treating the water.
While Johor is entitled to a daily supply of up to 5 mgd a day of treated water, which accounts for 2 per cent of the water supplied to Singapore, Singapore has been supplying 16 mgd of treated water to Johor at its request, as confirmed by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in March 2019 and reconfirmed by Malaysia’s Mr Akmal on Monday (Dec 2).
In a New Straits Times report, Mr Akmal said the higher supply amount incurred an additional cost of approximately RM180,000 (US$40,313) annually for Johor.
He also pointed out the costs savings for Malaysia in buying treated water from Singapore, citing how it’s purchasing them at the cost of 50 sen.
“For comparison, treating the same amount of water locally would cost around RM1.80 per cubic metre, while the treated water we buy from Singapore costs about 11 sen per cubic metre”, he added.
The deputy minister said that Malaysia needs to achieve a “net-zero dependency” by being capable of producing treated water in Johor before reviewing any new changes.
This was in response to another parliamentary question by MP for Rompin Abdul Khalib Abdullah who raised concerns about the economic impacts Malaysia faced due to the sale of raw water to Singapore at what is perceived to be a subsidised rate.
He also mentioned the long-term implications on Johor’s water resources should the agreement continue without any changes.
“Johor will still need treated water from Singapore,” Mr Akmal told parliament.
To reduce reliance on Singapore on treated water, the Malaysian government has launched the Zero Dependency project which includes building riverbank water reservoirs in the Johor River, as well as water treatment plants.
“These projects aimed to boost water storage capacity, allowing Johor to meet its long-term water needs independently, but achieving zero dependency by 2030 may be challenging due to the growth of industries such as data centres and semiconductors,” Mr Akmal explained.
Malaysia had earlier announced that all water deals were under review, following officials’ concerns over “subsidies” to the Lion City.
In July, local media reported that Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof had said that the government would be reviewing all existing agreements related to the issue of raw water.
Mr Fadillah, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation had reiterated former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s claims that the agreement had cost the government a significant sum, which he perceived as a “subsidy” to Singapore.
“Whether Malaysia has been providing a subsidy (to Singapore) or not, we are reviewing all the existing agreements,” Mr Fadillah said on Jul 16.
