PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the government is reviewing its move in challenging the International Court of Justice’s decision on the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh, also known as Pedra Branca.
The judgment awarded sovereignty of the islet to Singapore following both countries raising claims to it to the ICJ.
Dr Mahathir said the government was thinking of expanding Middle Rocks and developing it into a small island.
“They (ICJ) awarded Middle Rock to us. We have already built a structure there. It is our intention to enlarge it so that we can form a small island for us... We have not made any decision yet,” he said.
On Feb 2, last year, Malaysia filed for a revision of the ICJ judgment over Pulau Batu Puteh, citing three documents recently declassified by the United Kingdom, to support the application.
These are, the internal correspondence of the Singapore colonial authorities in 1958, an incident report filed in 1958 by a British naval officer, and an annotated map of naval operations from the 1960s.
The documents, which were unknown to both ICJ and Malaysia at the time of judgment in 2008, were discovered in the National Archives between Aug 4, 2016 and Jan 30, 2017.
The ICJ in The Hague is scheduled to hold public hearings on Malaysia’s request for reinterpretation of the ICJ judgment concerning sovereignty over Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh, in June.
The hearings, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, would be held from June 18 to 22.
On May 23, 2008, the ICJ ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh while Malaysia owned Middle Rocks, and South Ledge belonged to the state in whose territorial waters it is located.
Pulau Batu Puteh is located 7.7 nautical miles off the coast of Johor’s Tanjung Penyusuh.