Transport Ministry says no to Singapore's suggestion to publish discussions on airspace dispute

PETALING JAYA: It is a matter of principle not to release correspondence between parties to address media queries and get public support, says the Transport Ministry.

The ministry also agreed with its Singaporean counterpart that it would be useful for negotiations to be kept confidential to facilitate frank and constructive exchanges.

The Malaysian statement came after a Dec 10 statement by Singapore’s Transport Ministry saying that Malaysia should publish all correspondence and records of discussion between the two countries, and highlighted the records of the latest meeting from Nov 29-30.

Singapore had not revealed the contents of the discussion on these two dates.

The statement also said that Nov 30’s discussion had only been a review of the record of Nov 29’s discussion.

The Nov 29 discussion was on the 1974 Operational Letter of Agreement, and Malaysia’s decision to retake its sovereign airspace delegated to Singapore for the provision of air traffic services, as well as the new Instrument Landing System (ILS) procedures for Singapore’s Seletar Airport, it added.

“To this, Malaysia’s Transport Ministry wishes to reiterate that at no time did the CAAM (Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia) agree nor gave its approval for the publication of the new ILS procedures for Seletar Airport,” the statement ran.

The ministry also gave its view that the unilateral move to publish the ILS procedures in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) Singapore was a clear violation of Malaysian sovereignty and international law and standards.

It also noted that the ensuing tensions between both countries are unnecessary and could be avoided by implementing the new ILS procedures for Runway 03 on the airport’s south side, as opposed to Runway 21 on the northern side.

The Transport Ministry also expressed its sincere appreciation to Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAS) for the latter’s commitment to developing instrument flight procedures for Seletar's Runway 03.

“MOT Malaysia is fully convinced that with some creativity, the new ILS procedures for Runway 03 on the southern side of Seletar Airport, guaranteed by CAAS during the meeting with CAAM on Nov 29, would not impose any additional impact on other airspace users as well as businesses and residents in Singapore,” the statement added.