JOHOR BARU, July 10 — The Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) Opposition said today it fully supports efforts by the state government to push for a renegotiation of the water rates to Singapore.

It is currently at three sen per 1,000 gallons of water.

Johor Opposition Leader Datuk Ir Hasni Mohammad said the state government does not have to worry as the revised agreement allows the revision of rates and the Attorney-General Tommy Thomas has also confirmed that Malaysia has the right to propose new rates.

"I believe Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has the political will to carry out this claim, although it is possible that Singapore will link it to the Pulau Batu Puteh issue as well as raising the price of treated water that Singapore currently supplies to Johor,” he said in a statement today.

Hasni, who was the previous state Public Works, Rural and Regional Development committee chairman in the previous BN administration, explained that at one time Dr Mahathir as the previous prime minister had caused new water tariff negotiations to be cancelled with Singapore.

He said this was when Singapore imposed various conditions such as the KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, sand export quota, airspace usage and also their employee provident fund (CPF) contributor status.

"Now, those conditions are no longer supposed to arise because they are no longer an issue or have already been resolved,” said Hasni, who is also the Benut assemblyman.

In 1987, under Dr Mahathir, Malaysia had the right to review the price of water with Singapore under the 1962 Water Agreement. However, Malaysia chose not to.

Hasni argued that the free water grant will only benefit water companies and not the people when they are capable of being subsidised.

"Water is life and without water a civilisation can be lost. Therefore, raw water supply of 250 million gallons a day will make Singapore do anything to guarantee their position,” he said.

The water supply to Singapore is in the spotlight once again as a potential bilateral issue after Dr Mahathir late last month commented that the price at which raw water is sold to the island republic was "ridiculous".

Under a deal penned in 1962, Singapore can import up to 250 million gallons of water from the Johor River every day from Malaysia — around 58 per cent of its current daily water needs — at a cost of three sen per 1,000 gallons.

Tensions between Singapore and Malaysia had been high during Dr Mahathir’s previous tenure from 1981 to 2003, and the water issue contributed to often  difficult bilateral ties.

Since returning to power in May, Dr Mahathir said the new government would put a stop to the high-speed rail project linking Kuala Lumpur with Singapore and will also develop the Middle Rocks, a rocky outcrop in the Singapore Straits. Middle Rocks was awarded to Malaysia in 2008 following a lawsuit over Pulau Batu Puteh, a nearby island in the strategic waterway.