Proses selesaikan kes Pulau Batu Putih di ICJ bermula

KUALA LUMPUR 24 Julai - Malaysia dan Singapura hari ini memulakan proses kehakiman untuk menyelesaikan isu Pulau Batu Putih yang terletak dalam perairan Johor di Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ).

Wisma Putra dalam satu kenyataan menyatakan ini berikutan penghantaran pemberitahuan bersama oleh ejen-ejen kerajaan Malaysia dan Singapura kepada Pendaftar ICJ berhubung pertikaian di antara kedua-dua negara mengenai kedaulatan ke atas Pulau Batu Putih, Middle Rock dan South Ledge.

Menurut kenyataan itu, dokumen-dokumen lain yang turut dihantar ke ICJ termasuk perjanjian khas untuk merujuk pertikaian kedaulatan pulau-pulau itu yang telah ditandatangani pada 6 Februari lepas di Putrajaya.

``Surat cara pengesahan persetujuan yang telah dihantar oleh kedua-dua negara pada 9 Mei lepas, juga telah dihantar ke ICJ.

``Ketiga-tiga dokumen tersebut telah ditandatangani oleh Menteri Luar kedua-dua negara iaitu Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar bagi pihak Malaysia dan Profesor S. Jayakumar bagi Singapura,'' jelas kenyataan itu.

Malaysia dan Singapura pada 6 Februari lepas menandatangani perjanjian khas untuk membawa isu tuntutan bertindih Pulau Batu Putih ke ICJ bagi menyelesaikan pertikaian tersebut.

Dengan termeterainya perjanjian itu, keputusan berhubung kedaulatan pulau tersebut serta dua lagi pulau batu berhampirannya akan ditentukan oleh mahkamah berkenaan.

Berdasarkan kepada sejarah, lokasi dan pemetaan, Pulau Batu Putih yang terletak kira-kira 20 minit perjalanan dengan bot laju dari Teluk Ramunia di Johor, adalah milik Malaysia.

Pulau yang terdiri daripada bongkah batu seluas 0.2 hektar itu terletak lapan batu nautika dari Pengerang dan 40 batu nautika ke timur Singapura, pada mulanya hanya menempatkan rumah api untuk panduan pelayaran.

Pulau itu terletak di bawah pemerintahan kesultanan Johor kerana berdasarkan sejarah, penyerahan Pulau Singapura pada tahun 1824 kepada Inggeris hanya melibatkan sebuah pulau, laut dan selat yang terletak dalam lingkungan 10 batu nautika dari pesisir pulau Singapura.

Wisma Putra telah berusaha menyelesaikan pertikaian itu sejak lebih sedekad lalu dengan perbincangan dua hala yang pertama diadakan pada tahun 1993 dan kedua pada tahun 1994. Kedua-dua perbincangan itu bagaimanapun tidak berhasil menyelesaikannya.

Pada tahun 1995 dan 1996, perbincangan diadakan untuk merujuk kes tersebut kepada ICJ, namun ia tenggelam seketika apabila Malaysia terbabit dalam pertikaian dengan Indonesia berhubung tuntutan keatas Pulau Sipadan dan Ligitan.

Kenyataan itu turut memberitahu, kerajaan Malaysia telah melantik Setiausaha Kementerian Luar, Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak sebagai ejennya manakala Duta Malaysia ke Belanda, Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin sebagai ejen bersama.

Duta Kembara dan juga bekas Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Luar, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad menjadi penasihat utama kepada pasukan Malaysia untuk kes tersebut.

``Proses keseluruhan dengan ICJ, termasuk penghantaran hujah bertulis dan seterusnya perbicaraan secara lisan dalam mahkamah dijangka akan memakan masa selama kira-kira tiga tahun,'' menurut kenyataan itu - Utusan Malaysia

KL committed to resolving disputes with neighbours

SINGAPORE July 24 - Malaysia is committed to resolving all outstanding issues with its neighbours and will take a firm stand in settling the problems, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Mohamed Shafie Apdal said on Thursday.

Malaysia will not "run away" from resolving these issues, he said in his keynote address at a one-day forum on Regional Strategic and Political Developments here.

"Like any nation, we will defend our rights and integrity. We want to maintain good relations with all our neighbours. Therefore, we must ensure that relations are good and resolve all problems," he said in his paper on 'The Security Environment in South-East Asia'.

Besides internal problems, he said, ASEAN is also beset with bilateral disputes among its members.

For instance, he said, Malaysia has territorial disputes to be resolved with Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines. There are also skirmishes along the border of Myanmar and Thailand, he noted.

Besides territorial disputes, he said, Malaysia still has not shown any progress towards settlement of many outstanding bilateral issues that have strained relations between the two countries from time to time.

The way out of these bilateral disputes, he said, "is tricky and complex as they are flavoured with national interests and issues of sovereignty."

What have kept the disputes from becoming open conficts, he said, is the mechanisms of confidence-building measures achieved through ASEAN, ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum), and bilateral arrangements. "But these mechanisms have neither mandate nor the capacity to tackle the problems head on," he said.

Some disputes, he said, have been referred for arbitration to international institutions such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of Sipadan and Ligitan and Pulau Batu Putih.

Joint development of the disputed areas, he said, is another strategy that can be exploited for dispute management.

On the Spratly Islands dispute, he said that China has shown that it is in no hurry to resolve the dispute but it has demonstrated willingness to negotiate with the other claimants over the issue.

The practical difficulty of demarcating the sea boundaries, the poor prospect of fruitful bilateral talks and the clear obstacles to holding multilateral negotiations, he said, all suggested that a negotiated settlement is still far away, and that the potential for armed conflict cannot be overruled.

"Under these circumstances, the best approach in managing the Spratly issue is to continue with the engagement," he said.

Joint development and code of conduct, he suggested, must rigorously be pursued as part of the strategy. Regional security forums and bilateral arrangements provide ready platforms to advance the engagement processes, he said.

On internal conflicts within ASEAN, he said that many security experts argued that these internal problems within individual nations, and not the external threat, posed the higher risks to the region's security.

To a certain extent, and from the economic and social points of views, "this has credential", noting that continued internal problems will deplete the nations' resources that could instead be used for national development.

The unstable environment, he said, will also deter foreign investment, "and not to mention the spillover effect of the conflicts to the neighbouring countries in the form of refugee and sanctuary issues which could strain bilateral relations."

The ASEAN way of not interfering with the internal affairs of member states has been questioned by critics, he said, noting that the question whether ASEAN needs to intervene collectively is a subject of an interesting debate.

"Malaysia upholds the non-interference concept which has served the region well in the past."

But at the same time, Malaysia is also very glad from the recent moves by certain countries to be transparent about their internal problems, he said. - Bernama

Prompt action clears Pengerang coast off sludge within 10 days

KOTA TINGGI July 6 - The authorities, assisted by some 200 villagers, have managed to clear tonnes of sludge along the 40 km-stretch of Pengerang coast within 10 days from June 21.

This prompt action, initiated by the Johor Department of Environment (DoE) and Pengerang Land Office, has minimised the sludge's adverse impacts on the environment and marine life in that area.

Johor DoE Director, Tengku Bakry Shah Tengku Johan, said the sludge was believed to have come from the "APL Emerald" which hit Pulau Batu Putih at 2.40 am last June 12, spilling 150 tonnes of oil.

Nine days later, the department received reports that the oil slicks were seen off Tanjung Sepang, Teluk Ramunia, Pengerang at about 5 pm, believed to have been moved there by sea currents from Pulau Batu Putih, he told Bernama.

A check found 14 spots, located along the 40 km-stretch between Pengerang and Tanjung Balau, Desaru, had been polluted by the oil slicks.

The affected spots are Sungai Rengit fishermen's jetty, Nelayan Beach Resort, Sungai Musoh, Sun Rising Beach Resort, Sepang Indah Beach Resort and Sea View Resort.

The others are Titian Indah Resort, Norlaili Chalet, Ekhsan Chalet, Punggai Bayu Beach Resort, Tanjung Punggai Resort, Batu Layar Beach Resort, Desaru Golden Beach Resort and Tanjung Balau Resort.

"Last June 22, we held a programme to clear the sludge, assisted by the resort operators and villagers mobilised by Mukim Pantai Timur Pengerang Penghulu Mohd Safie Amat.

"We started work at 9 am and finished by 6 pm everyday, for 10 days," said Tengku Bakry Shah.

Using spades, hoes, baskets and plastic bags, the villagers, DoE officers and resort workers toiled under the hot sun to scoop the sludge which, by that time, had solidified.

They had to take immediate action to clear the sludge as any further delay would turn tourists away from resorts there apart from threatening the livelihood of the fishermen.

Assisted by excavators and garbage-collecting lorries, the group managed to clear the coast from the black and thick sludge, 10 days after they started work.

Pengerang elected representative, Harun Abdullah, said this was the first time that such a problem was cleared in a rather quick time.

"Congratulations for all those involved, the villagers, resort operators and officials from DoE and Pengerang Land Office, otherwise more damages will be sustained," he told Bernama.

Harun had recently arranged for the paying of RM241,000 compensation to 529 fishermen whose livelihood was badly hit after "Neptank VII" spilled oil on June 14, 2002.

Tengku Bakry Shah said sludge samples had been taken for analysis by the Chemistry Department to ensure that the oil came from the APL Emerald.

"We should get the results within the next few days and the Chemistry report would be used to assist the villagers, fishermen and resort operators to submit their claims," he said.

Mohd Shafie said insurers of the ship might have to pay close to RM100,000 as compensation for the fishermen

"The figure can be higher if it involves claims from the resort and chalet operators," he said - Bernama