Source : Straits Times, Singapore, 14 Jan '05
By : Lydia Lim
  

	END TO SKIRMISHES: Draft agreement on works near Pulau Tekong (above) and Tuas has been submitted for signing.

The resolution comes after nearly two years of legal skirmishes and closed-door talks.

It will be sealed once the two governments approve and sign a draft settlement agreement submitted to them this week.

In a joint statement yesterday, both governments said they agreed to use recommendations by an independent group of experts as 'the basis of a mutually acceptable and beneficial solution'.

The experts were appointed by the governments to study the impact of the reclamation. They submitted their recommendations last November but these have not been made public.

The breakthrough deal was brokered between officials of both sides after two rounds of meetings, on Dec 22 and 23 in Singapore, and last Friday to Sunday in the Netherlands.

Yesterday, Singapore's chief negotiator, Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh, said what was significant was that both sides viewed the settlement agreement positively. 'This agreement is in both Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi's view and my view a fair and balanced basis for settling,' he said at a press briefing.

Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi is Malaysia's chief negotiator and secretary-general of its Foreign Ministry.

The dispute over Singapore's land reclamation dates back to July 2003.

Malaysia launched international arbitration proceedings against Singapore to prevent it from reclaiming land at Tekong and Tuas. It claimed the work damaged its interests by among other things, narrowing shipping lanes around the Johor Straits.

It also applied to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) for an interim order to stop the reclamation work immediately.

This Hamburg-based tribunal heard the case in September 2003. It then ruled the reclamation could continue but ordered both sides to set up an independent group of experts to study the impact.

The experts - chosen by both sides - submitted their 'unanimous' report on Nov 5 last year. This then led to the two meetings between officials in December and last week on how to implement the recommendations.

It was at the second round of meetings in the Netherlands that the settlement was reached.

Legal teams from both sides were scheduled to appear before an arbitral tribunal at The Hague on Monday.

This tribunal was constituted under the Law of the Sea after Malaysia started the arbitration proceedings against Singapore.

If the two sides had not reached a deal by last Sunday, they would have gone into this second legal battle the next day.

Instead, Prof Koh and Tan Sri Ahmad appeared before the tribunal to say they had in hand a draft settlement agreement.

Cooperation was so good that if they could have sung a duet, they would have, Prof Koh quipped yesterday. They settled on each taking turns to read the agreement before the tribunal.

Singapore has proposed that once the two governments sign the agreement, hopefully in the next few weeks, it be submitted to the arbitral tribunal to form the basis of a final judgment, known as an award. Malaysia has agreed in principle.

Without going into details, Prof Koh said the award would entail each side assuming some obligations.

Yesterday's joint statement also said that the two governments agreed that the Straits of Johor are a shared water body and both have a common interest in cooperating to ensure safe navigation and to protect the environment.

The monitoring and exchange of information will be done through existing mechanisms that allow for regular talks between the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Johor Port Authority, and the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on the Environment.

The two governments also said that the positive outcome 'reflects the goodwill and cooperation' between the two countries.

'This augurs well for the further strengthening of good relations between these two friendly and close neighbours,' they added.

Prof Koh added that 'the good atmosphere prevailing between our two governments' helped negotiations.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar welcomed the settlement, adding: 'We can move ahead to look at other outstanding bilateral issues.'