KL to give its proposal on joint ministerial group soon

The Straits Times, June 22, 2007

PUTRAJAYA - MALAYSIA will submit the terms of reference for its joint ministerial committee with Singapore as soon as possible, Sin Chew Daily reported yesterday.

The committee is for easing cooperation between the two countries on specific matters, including bringing about fuss-free travel, to boost the development of south Johor's new economic zone, the 2,217sq km Iskandar Development Region (IDR).

A spokesman for Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Effendi Norwawi, who chairs the committee with Singapore's National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, said the official notice on it would be issued to the relevant Singapore authorities soon.

She was responding to media queries after Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a statement on Monday, which said, among other things: '(W)e have not received any official notice from the Malaysian government on the members of the committee or the proposed terms of reference.

'We look forward to hearing from them and will study the proposed terms of reference once they have done so.'

The statement was made after media queries to the MFA on Malaysian newspaper reports published last Wednesday. The reports said that the Malaysian Cabinet had confirmed the committee's terms of reference, which included discussing the building of a rail track from Johor Baru to Singapore and introducing a smart card for travel between those points.

That same day, the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department also issued a statement stressing that the committee would not have any power to formulate any policy for the IDR.

Last month, at their inaugural leaders' retreat, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Badawi had agreed to set up the committee to smoothen bilateral cooperation for the IDR's success.

But some Malaysians, especially Johoreans, thought Singapore's presence meant that the Republic would have the opportunity to dictate the way the IDR was developed and, in doing so, threaten Malaysia's sovereignty.

Despite repeated assurances from Datuk Seri Abdullah, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar and many other Umno leaders, some quarters have not let up on criticising the very existence of the committee.

This was borne out at length in a Mingguan Malaysia interview with Datuk Seri Effendi on Sunday, with questions about the committee's purpose and also its powers, if any.

Among other things, Datuk Seri Effendi told Mingguan Malaysia: 'Of course Singapore is always interested with the developments in this region. We want to ensure that IDR is successful.

'If we can create a positive relationship, why not? Singapore is our neighbour, certainly we should boost this good relationship between us.'

While stressing that the committee would have no way of managing or governing the IDR, he also said that the committee could have its first meeting later this month, to discuss its terms of reference.