'Study causes of floods before blaming S'pore'

MALAYSIA'S Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has called for a full study to be done into the causes of the recent flooding in Johor before fingers are pointed at Singapore.

'There have been all kinds of claims, but we cannot draw conclusions without an in-depth technical study,' Bernama news agency reported him as saying in Kuala Lumpur.

He said without a technical study, conclusions could not be drawn on the cause of the recent floods in Johor.

He made his remarks to reporters when asked to comment on Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman's claim 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.

Datuk Seri Najib said the government was setting up a technical committee and the cause of the floods would be determined by experts.

His comments came as Singapore's Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday rejected Datuk Abdul Ghani's claims as unfounded. Responding to media queries on the Johor Menteri Besar's remarks, an MND spokesman said in a statement: 'The comments are unfounded.

'This is confirmed by the results from technical studies that were commissioned separately by both the Malaysian government and the Singapore government as part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) dispute settlement proceedings on Singapore's land reclamation works at Pulau Tekong and Tuas View Extension.

'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 added: 'A separate Environmental Impact Assessment report prepared by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia commissioned by the Malaysian government reported similar findings.

'Technical studies commissioned separately by the Singapore government in 2003 also reached the same conclusions.

'In fact, based on the results of these studies, the Group of Experts which both governments appointed to study the impact of the reclamation works had recommended that it would not be necessary for the flood impact to be further assessed by the technical consultant appointed for the joint study.

'This was accepted by both governments. There is therefore no scientific basis to the allegations that the flooding is caused by Singapore's land reclamation works at Pulau Tekong.'

A News Straits Times report yesterday said the land reclamation work by Singapore at Pulau Tekong might have contributed to the recent floods in Johor.

The land reclamation is said to have narrowed the river mouth of Sungai Johor, causing the massive destruction in Kota Tinggi.

Datuk Abdul Ghani told the paper that the narrowing of the river mouth had slowed the discharge of excess rain water into the Johor Strait.