Johor MB 'should quit for blaming floods on Singapore'

The Straits Times, February 9, 2007


KULAI (JOHOR) - JOHOR Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman should resign over his remarks that Singapore's reclamation works had caused the Kota Tinggi floods, a Malaysian opposition leader has said.

Failing that, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi should apologise to the Singapore Government on Datuk Abdul Ghani's behalf, China Press yesterday quoted Mr Ong Kow Meng as saying. The deputy chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Johor was speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Datuk Abdul Ghani claimed last month that massive land reclamation works by Singapore at Pulau Tekong, at the mouth of the Johor River, had contributed to the floods in Kota Tinggi.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar have said that an in-depth technical study should be conducted before anyone can make such a claim.

Singapore's Ministry of National Development last week rejected Datuk Abdul Ghani's claims. It said they were 'unfounded' as shown by technical studies commissioned separately by the Malaysian and Singapore governments.

'A coastal hydraulic study undertaken by Malaysia's Department of Irrigation and Drainage in September 2002 on the impact of Singapore's reclamation works concluded that... there is no increased flooding due to Singapore's reclamation works,' it said last week.

Johor was hit by two waves of flooding in mid-December and mid-January after heavy rains fell. The floodings affected the whole of southern Johor.

The Johor DAP last week said Datuk Abdul Ghani's remarks that Singapore had caused the floods were 'baseless' and 'lacked the bearing of the leader', according to China Press.

It quoted Mr Ong as saying on Wednesday that the Menteri Besar's remarks 'damage bilateral relations'.