The Malaysian government had not offered to sell sand as well as the use of Johor's air space to Singapore as claimed by ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, according to Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar today.

In the rebuttal made through a five-page parliamentary written reply to Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), Syed Hamid described Mahathir's claim on the offer as "baseless and inaccurate".

Instead, the minister claimed it was Mahathir who had inserted the offer of Malaysian air space as a trade-off condition during the bilateral negotiation package and hinted that the ex-premier did not tighten the conditions in protecting the sale of sand to the island state when he was in power.

"It was Singapore, not Malaysia, that had raised the question of re-allowing the sale of sand to Singapore and the use of the Malaysian air space," Syed Hamid said in the reply.

"This two issues were raised as 'political quid pro quo' based on the principle of an equal interest to get Singapore to agree to the proposed bridge in replacing the Johor causeway.

"The air space issue was not new and had been discussed for a long time in the context of the bilateral negotiation package from 1998 to 2002. It was Tun (Mahathir) himself who inserted this in the package as one of the trade-off (condition) during the bilateral negotiation."

In an exclusive interview with malaysiakini in May, Mahathir had claimed that it was the Malaysian government, and not Singapore, that had offered to sell sand as well as the use of Johor's air space to the island state.

The ex-premier, who recently fired his scathing criticisms against the current administration, had argued that the offers were made at a meeting in 2004 - the year after he stepped down as PM - between the two nations to get Singapore's agreement to the building of a straight bridge.

The sale of sand, in particular, was to the tune of one billion square metres - or 50 million square metres a year for 20 years - that will make Singapore one-and-a-half times its present size, added Mahathir.

Chronology of event

Detailing the chronology of the bilateral talk in his reply, Syed Hamid said on March 1 last year, Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had met in Putrajaya to discuss outstanding bilateral issues.

"(In that meeting), Goh had repeated Singapore's request to Malaysia to allow the use of the Malaysian air space by Singaporean air force. It was also the first time that Goh raised the sand issue and requested Malaysia to re-allow the sale of sand to Singapore," he stated.

On the issue of air space, Syed Hamid said during negotiations bewteen Malaysian and Singaporean senior officials from September 2005 to March 2006, they were only two - out of five - special rights pertaining to the air space deal were considered by Malaysia.

This was made after consent was obtained from the Malaysian Defence Ministry.

The two rights were in relation to 'search and rescue' and the 'northern transit corridor'. On 'search and rescue', he explained the right was offered based on the principle of reciprocity and it was in line with international practice.

Whereas for the right on the 'northern transit corridor', it was meant to be used as a transit to the South China Sea and that the Singaporean air force will not hover over the Malaysian air space while Malaysian government impose a few conditions to protect the country's interest.

"In relation to sand, the (Malaysian) government had given consideration to Singapore's request after taking into account that Malaysia had for a long time been selling sand to Singapore under Tun's administration," said the minister.

He added that another consideration was the sale of silica sand to Singapore which is an on-going transaction.

"However, if we compare the sale of sand done under Tun's administration, the conditions now are more stringent as evident from the negotiations with Singapore at the senior officials level from September 2005 to March 2006," the foreign minister argued.

These conditions included the aspects of sand quality, location, royalty payment, issuance of license, procedures at the federal and state governments, the regulations for sand mining, relevant terms and conditions, as well as an effective enforcement to protect the nation's interest.

Don't raise the issues again

Despite the talks, Syed Hamid said that the government had decided not to continue the building of the bridge after taking into consideration the sensitivities and sentiments of the people

With this, the government is not required to consider the two conditions anymore, he added.

"Thus, the two issues should not be raised anymore," the minister hinted to Mahathir.

On the issue of scrapping the bridge project, Syed Hamid said the compensation that government has to pay the project contractor, Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd, is still under study.

Meanwhile, the minister said his parliamentary written reply was also made to reply to Mahathir's 'questions and allegations' after Abdullah had directed the relevant ministers and government agencies to do so.

"My ministry will act in an open and transparent manner in releasing relevant documents which are important. However, we will have to be cautious in releasing such documents so it will not jeopardise national interest," he said.

Syed Hamid hoped that the people would be better informed about the issues after his explanation.