Singapore’s Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said today the prime ministers of both countries had agreed during their annual Leaders’ Retreat on Tuesday to take “timely and appropriate measures” to augment the supply of natural water to the Johor river.
According to a report in the Straits Times (ST), he said Malaysia and Singapore would look at “many schemes that have already been proposed”, and decide based on technical feasibility, cost and speed of implementation.
He did not go into details.
Masagos earlier held a meeting with Malaysia’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at the 29th Malaysia-Singapore Annual Exchange of Visit here.
Masagos said the Linggiu dam, which channels water to treatment plants in the Johor River, was currently at 26 %.
“On the back of the dry monsoon season next year, it is probably not going to recover very quickly,” the ST quoted him as saying.
He said the barrage built across the mouth of the river was fully operational mechanically. However, automatic deployment will only begin in March.
“What that means is that salinity intrusion has been solved. I have been monitoring and it is very effective. But the natural flow of the Johor River is not enough to meet the needs currently of the Johor population as well as the Singapore population should Linggiu dam fail,” the ST quoted him as saying.
The ST had reported in May that Johor was studying plans to divert water from two rivers to the Linggiu reservoir to reduce water shortage that had hit the state in the last few years.
This year’s dry spell has raised fears over whether Singapore can continue to rely on Malaysia for the agreed 250 million gallons per day, or nearly 60% of its current freshwater water needs, added the report.
At the meeting the delegations discussed various other issues pertaining to the environment, including land reclamation works in the Strait of Johor and the haze situation in the region.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that both ministers welcomed the establishment of a joint task force to discuss issues pertaining to the findings of the bathymetry survey at Danga Bay.
“The two ministers noted the great emphasis placed on marine environmental protection by both countries and stressed the need to improve the seawater quality in the Strait of Johor,” according to a joint statement.
They also agreed to conduct a joint exercise for chemical spill at the Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing in September next year, hosted by Malaysia.