SINGAPORE, June 29 — Describing Singapore as both a "neighbour and a friend”, Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has expressed his gratitude to the Republic for helping the state during earlier drought seasons.

"Thank you to the Singaporean Government for helping Johor during the drought seasons and when we had our water crisis,” wrote the crown prince on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page yesterday evening.

He said Johor and Singapore have always helped each other and hoped "the close ties and friendship forged hundreds of years ago last forever.”

In June 2016, Singapore supplied an extra six million gallons of potable water a day to Johor at the request of the state’s water regulatory body.

Badan Kawalselia Air Johor had asked for the extra gallons for a month to supplement the water supply in areas served by Johor’s Sungai Layang dam, which had been hit severely by a dry spell.

A month later, Singapore increased the supply of treated water to Johor by six million gallons, from an existing supply of 15 to 16 million gallons, due to pollution in the Johor River.

The prince’s comments comes days after Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad revived a 1962 water dispute with Singapore which he labelled as "ridiculous”.

In an interview with Bloomberg published on Monday (June 25), Dr Mahathir said water is among issues with Singapore "that we need to settle”, adding: "We will sit down and talk with them, like civilised people.”

Speaking later in a separate interview with Channel NewsAsia, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia will present its case on the water agreement to Singapore in due course.

"I think it is manifestly ridiculous that you should sell water at 3 sen per thousand gallons. I mean, that was okay way back in the 1990s or 1930s, but now, what can you buy with 3 sen. Nothing,” he said.

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, which expires in 2061, Singapore’s national water agency PUB may draw 250 million gallons of raw water from the Johor River daily at 3 sen (1.01 Singapore cents) per thousand gallons.

In return, Johor is entitled to receive a daily supply of up to five million gallons of treated water — or 2 per cent of the water supplied to Singapore — at 50 sen per 1,000 gallons.

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan responded indirectly to Dr Mahathir’s comments on Monday afternoon, posting a video on the Republic’s quest for water security and remarking: "Why water has always been sacrosanct in Singapore.”

Asked about Dr Mahathir’s comments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the 1962 Water Agreement is a fundamental agreement guaranteed by both governments in the 1965 Separation Agreement which was registered with the United Nations.

"Both sides must comply fully with all the provisions of these agreements,” an MFA spokesman said. — TODAY