Minister's reply to MPs' queries

The Straits Times, February 13, 2007


Ms Irene Ng (Tampines GRC) asked Mr George Yeo what was his interpretation of the sudden ban on sand exports to Singapore and the statement by some Indonesian officials that it was linked to the negotiations on the extradition treaty. Was this a pressure point being used by Indonesia, she asked.

She also disagreed with Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) that Singapore should slow down its pace of development to be at pace with its neighbours. 'We answer to Singaporeans,' she said.

Mr Yeo noted an article dated Feb 3 in the Jakarta Post newspaper, which quoted the Indonesian Maritime Security Coordinating Board chief executive, Vice-Admiral Djoko Sumaryano, as linking the land sand ban to the border talks and Extradition Treaty negotiations.

'Such a linkage, if true, would be unfortunate and counter-productive. Our border limitation talks are complicated enough and if there's an additional linkage, it will only make the talks more difficult,' he said.

Mr Yeo also said that Singapore and Indonesia had agreed in 2005 that the Extradition Treaty and the Defence Cooperation Agreement should be linked together and negotiated in parallel as one package.

'The talks have made good progress although there are still a few difficult issues to overcome.'

Singapore hopes that both agreements, as one package, could be concluded early.

Mr Yeo agreed with Ms Ng that Singapore should not slow down its development pace 'to make our relations with our neighbours more comfortable'.

He added: 'We should do what is in the interest of Singapore.'


Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim, quoting wire reports, said that one reason for Indonesia's unhappiness with Singapore was that they suspect that some Indonesians it was pursuing for corruption were staying here or had parked their money in Singapore. Is this true, she asked Mr Yeo.
Replying, the minister said that when Indonesia had been able to establish a case and Singapore could be helpful to them, 'we have always been'.

However, he noted that many of these comments are connected with the country's domestic politics and 'really we would not want to be too involved in their domestic politics'.

Mr Yeo also said that one reason the Extradition Treaty is not easy to negotiate is that if Indonesia made a case for a person to be extradited, then a course of defence would be whether proper procedures were observed in Indonesia.

This means a judge in Singapore will have to examine the conduct of Indonesia's police and judges, he said.

'All these things have to be taken into account because the last thing we want is for an extradition treaty to complicate further our bilateral relations with them,' he said.