Singapore seeks better ties with Indonesia
Monday, March 19, 2007
SINGAPORE wants a "constructive relationship" with Indonesia despite Jakarta's decision to ban sand exports to the city-state, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in remarks published yesterday.
The export ban on sand excavated from land in February has affected Singapore's recovering construction sector hard as the city-state, which lacks natural resources, relies on the imported commodity to produce concrete.
A Singapore minister has said the higher costs of importing sand from elsewhere could push project costs up by as much as 3 per cent.
Singapore has had to tap its own land sand stockpile to stabilise prices of the commodity and source from other countries for the material, Lee was quoted as saying in the Sunday Times.
"It's unfortunate that this problem has come up," said Lee, whose remarks on the issue with Japanese media ahead of his visit to Tokyo were reported in the newspaper.
"The official explanations are that it's because of concern over the environment and that it has nothing to do with other issues which we are negotiating, like the extradition treaty and the defence cooperation agreement or the ongoing talks on boundary demarcation."
Lee said Singapore accepted Jakarta's explanations and hoped the two neighbours can still work together.
"So we accept these explanations as they're given to us and we hope that over time, the matter will stabilise and we will be able to resume our cooperation," said Lee. "We really want a constructive relationship and we do not see any advantage in raising the temperature."
On Thursday, Singapore's ministry of foreign affairs said the two countries have agreed to set a date for ministers and military officers to discuss the extradition treaty and defence cooperation pact.
The absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries has been a thorn in bilateral relations as Jakarta considers such a pact as crucial in its fight against corruption.AFP
The export ban on sand excavated from land in February has affected Singapore's recovering construction sector hard as the city-state, which lacks natural resources, relies on the imported commodity to produce concrete.
A Singapore minister has said the higher costs of importing sand from elsewhere could push project costs up by as much as 3 per cent.
Singapore has had to tap its own land sand stockpile to stabilise prices of the commodity and source from other countries for the material, Lee was quoted as saying in the Sunday Times.
"It's unfortunate that this problem has come up," said Lee, whose remarks on the issue with Japanese media ahead of his visit to Tokyo were reported in the newspaper.
"The official explanations are that it's because of concern over the environment and that it has nothing to do with other issues which we are negotiating, like the extradition treaty and the defence cooperation agreement or the ongoing talks on boundary demarcation."
Lee said Singapore accepted Jakarta's explanations and hoped the two neighbours can still work together.
"So we accept these explanations as they're given to us and we hope that over time, the matter will stabilise and we will be able to resume our cooperation," said Lee. "We really want a constructive relationship and we do not see any advantage in raising the temperature."
On Thursday, Singapore's ministry of foreign affairs said the two countries have agreed to set a date for ministers and military officers to discuss the extradition treaty and defence cooperation pact.
The absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries has been a thorn in bilateral relations as Jakarta considers such a pact as crucial in its fight against corruption.AFP
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