Deputy minister Akmal Nasrullah Nasir informed the Dewan Rakyat of this today, in response to a question from Hassan Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang).
“Following discussions in October 2024 with the Johor menteri besar (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,” he said.
Hassan had asked if the government intended to approach Singapore to revisit the terms of the Johor River Agreement 1962.
Singapore currently buys raw water from Johor at a price of three sen per 1,000 gallons. The republic also sells back treated water to Johor for 50 sen per 1,000 gallons.
In 2018, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the pricing as “ridiculous” and called for a renegotiation of the agreement.
Last year, then natural resources, environment and climate change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the government intended to review the agreement due to “certain issues”.
Based on data from the Johor Water Regulatory Body (Bakaj), Akmal said the state currently relies on Singapore for an average of 16 million gallons of treated water daily, far exceeding the stipulated five million gallons.
This has resulted in additional costs of approximately RM180,000 annually, borne by Johor.
To address this dependency, he said Johor had embarked on the Zero Dependency initiative, aimed at achieving water self-sufficiency by 2030.
Key projects under this initiative include constructing water treatment plants such as the Layang 2 and Semanggar 3 plants, and infrastructure improvements along rivers like Sungai Lebak and Sungai Sedili Besar, he added.
However, Akaml said that achieving full water independence by 2030 might be challenging due to the rapid growth of industrial sectors such as data centres and semiconductors in Johor.
“Therefore, treated water supply from Singapore remains necessary to meet Johor’s water needs.”
Responding to a supplementary question from Abdul Khalib Abdullah (PN-Rompin), Akmal said Johor benefits from the agreement as the cost of purchasing treated water from Singapore is lower than producing it locally.
“The average cost to treat an equivalent volume of water daily would be RM1.80, so there is a reciprocal benefit, as we only pay 50 sen per 1,000 gallons for treated water from Singapore,” he said.