Malaysian companies are providing Singapore the sand that it needs for the controversial reclamation project around the Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin area in the Tebrau Straits, according to the PAS Youth wing.

It made the claim based on "documentary evidence and testimony from local fishermen", whose livelihood are said to have been adversely affected by the dredging of sand by these companies.

The opposition party also leveled the charge that the federal government was itself involved because the Land and Co-operative Development Ministry had issued the dredging licences to companies that sell sand to Singapore.

PAS Youth information chief Mazlan Aliman criticised the highly publicised land reclamation issue as a sandiwara (play) staged by the Singapore and Malaysian governments.

Omission of role

According to Mazlan, the publicity on the issue has omitted the role that Malaysians themselves have played in perpetuating the situation.

Three Malaysian companies, along with several more from Indonesia, had been providing the sand that Singapore needs for the project, he explained.

"Four to five months ago, Indonesia announced that its companies would no longer provide sand. In March, the licences granted to the three Malaysian companies also expired," he said.

Since then, Mazlam alleged, another three local companies have been granted licences by the Land and Co-operative Development Ministry to continue supplying Singapore with sand from Pontian, Muar, and Kota Tinggi, all in Johor.

"These companies claim that they are transporting the sand to Tanjung Pelepas port (PTP). However, we have evidence to suggest that much of the sand is not taken to PTP, but elsewhere."

He said that, for the ships carrying the sand to get to PTP, they would have to pass certain landmarks.

"But that's not the case. Based on the documents we have - and the accounts of local fishermen who testify that digging operations are conducted 24 hours a day at the sites - we seriously suspect that these ships are proceeding to Singapore."

Details to come

PAS last year had filed a report on the activities of Malaysian companies carrying out dredging work and supplying sand to Singapore.

Mazlan said he was shocked to hear from locals that licences had been issued to three more concessionaires, after the original contracts expired.

"Why has the Malaysian government issued more licences to companies to supply sand to Singapore?" he asked.

Mazlan was reluctant, however, to disclose further information, saying that the evidence would be revealed at a press conference tomorrow by PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub. (photo)

Singapore's reclamation project on the eastern stretches of the Tebrau Straits is currently under arbitration at the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The Malaysian government had submitted an application for a 'stop-work' order on the grounds that the project would cause environmental damage and was situated in territorial waters.

A preliminary hearing decided last Wednesday that both countries should set up a joint panel of experts to study the impact of the project, and work in consultation to determine any temporary measures deemed necessary.

The tribunal, however, allowed the reclamation work to continue.