The Chief Minister of Johor, Osman Sapian, made the bombshell announcement that his state intends to no longer buy treated water from Singapore.

On March 1, as reported by The Star Online, Osman made a statement after attending a special session with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his Cabinet at Putrajaya.

Osman said that there was a "plan" to no longer rely on Singapore for treated water.

However, he said that the plans had not been finalised.

According to Utusan Online, he said:

"But this is still in the planning stage and I can not share the details at this point, until this plan can be implemented in the near future."

Impact on Water Agreement?

It is unclear how such a unilateral move would impact the terms of the 1962 Water Agreement between Malaysia and Singapore, if anything.

The Agreement allows Singapore to draw 250 million gallons of water per day from the Johor River.

Singapore pays three sen for every 1,000 gallons.

In return, Johor is entitled to a daily supply of treated water amounting to two per cent of the raw water it supplied for 50 sen per 1,000 gallons, although in actual fact Singapore supplies a higher amount.

But Singapore also bears the full cost of treating the water, and other infrastructural costs, such as building dams and treatment plants, and operating and maintaining the pumps and pipelines.

The Singapore government has stated that the real cost of treating the water is RM2.40 per 1,000 gallons.

Related story:

Top image from Osman Sapian's Facebook page.

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