154th news hoodwink again, Najib - See you in International Court!

M'sia, S'pore to settle KTM land development charges in court

SINGAPORE (Bernama): Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to bring the outstanding issue on the development charges payable on Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) land in the city-state that will be jointly developed by both countries, to the international court for arbitration.

In a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak met his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana here, both leaders agreed to settle the issue amicably through arbitration under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The statement said both countries had different views relating to the charges payable on the three parcels of Points of Agreement (POA) land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands.

The three parcels of land are expected to be developed by a 60-40 joint-venture company, M-S Pte Ltd, to be set up between Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Singapore's Temasek Holdings Ltd.

Najib and Lee had further agreed to accept the arbitration award as final and binding.

It is understood that the development charges, which applied to any business that wants to develop any land in Singapore, will be significant if the three parcels of land are going to be developed.

The contention now is that based on the POA entered into, by both countries in 1990, the clause on who should pay the development charges was not clear enough.

Singapore interpreted that the company should pay for the development charges but Malaysia said there should be no cost at all.

However, Najib and Lee agreed that the arbitration would proceed on its own track, and should not affect the implementation of the POA and the other bilateral initiatives agreed upon, in their first meeting here on May 24, this year.

In that meeting, Malaysia agreed to move the KTMB Tanjong Pagar station to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint by July 1, next year, and the three parcels of land would be vested in M-S Pte Ltd for joint development and swapped with several pieces of land in Marina South and Ophir-Rochor.

Speaking at a joint press conference later with Lee, Najib said the issue was not a major problem but it was important for they wanted POA that would survive the test of time.

Najib said they wanted to make it a legally and politically correct agreement that would be accepted by both peoples of Malaysia and Singapore and their future generations.

"This agreement signifies the final chapter in the long-standing arrangement which started 20 years ago.

"We both are delighted and as well as relieved in a sense that we can put this behind us and move forward," Najib said.

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Singapore, Malaysia finalise land swap deal
By S Ramesh | Posted: 20 September 2010 1614 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Malaysia have settled a land swap agreement for four land parcels in Marina South and two land parcels in the Ophir-Rochor area.

This goes toward implementing the 1990 Points of Agreement (POA) on Malaysian Railway Land in Singapore.

These details were revealed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak after they met in Singapore on Monday.

The Singapore government will vest the four land parcels in Marina South and the two land parcels in Ophir Rochor in M-S Pte Ltd - the company formed to look into the implementation details.

This is in lieu of the three parcels of POA land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, as well as parcels of land in Bukit Timah.

Giving details, a joint statement said the four Marina South parcels are located at the heart of the financial business cluster in Singapore's Marina Bay.

The two Ophir-Rochor parcels are located next to the Kampong Glam historic district in a new growth corridor that is being developed as an extension of Singapore's Central Business District.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said both he and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were delighted and relieved.

"... We can put this behind us and move forward because we believe that this is an arrangement which is mutually beneficial," he said.

Both leaders told reporters that they differed on one area, which was the development charges payable on three parcels of railway land involved in Malaysia's land swap.

But they stressed that this will be sent to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, to be settled amicably.

"The different view is whether the development charge is payable on the three parcels of POA land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

"Singapore's view is that it is; Malaysia's view is that it is not. It is not some thing we can just argy-bargy over.

"We have decided the best way to solve this is to have arbitration and have a impartial settlement which both sides can accept," he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said: "It is an enhanced version of the original POA which signifies a deep commitment from the Singapore government and the prime minister himself that we should try as far as possible to make this agreement not only legally correct but also politically correct, in a sense that it can be accepted by the peoples of Malaysia and Singapore".

Both prime ministers said the arbitration will proceed on its own track, and will not affect the implementation of the POA, and the other bilateral initiatives agreed on May 24 this year when the leaders met for a retreat here. - CNA /ls/wk

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