JOHOR BARU: Johor will support any legal action if a task force finds there was negligence or error involved in the Pulau Batu Puteh case, says its Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.

       In welcoming the Federal Government’s decision to review laws relating to the case, he said the state agrees and would provide full support on taking legal action under the “tort of misfeasance” towards any parties found to have committed negligence or errors for not pursuing the application for review and interpretation of the case.

       He added that the state government also wants the matter to be expedited so that those who are responsible would be brought to justice immediately.

       “Based on the findings from investigations, the state government is ready to take legal action against those responsible,” he said.

       Hasni noted that the island, both in terms of history and its proximity to Johor, made it important to its people and the state government.

       “Therefore, the state government has given its assurance that it will provide cooperation and assistance to the Federal Government in efforts to obtain various documents and views required,” he said yesterday.On Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government had decided to form a special task force headed by former attorney general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

       “The task force will conduct thorough research and propose suitable options by getting views from experts on international laws.

       “Such efforts will be aimed at rechecking laws relating to the review and interpretation application of the case,” he added.

       Ismail Sabri said the task force would be given six months to produce findings and recommendations for the Cabinet’s further action.On May 28, Mohd Hatta Sanuri, 45, sought an order for the government to provide a written explanation as to why it had withdrawn from the review application over the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision that Singapore has sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.

       Last month, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed an application by the Prime Minister and the government for a time extension to file their statement of defence against the suit.

       The Prime Minister and the government, as first and second defendants, have until Oct 23 to file their statement of defence.

       Based on the notice of application filed on Sept 7, the defendants had applied for more time on the grounds that the plaintiff’s statement of claim was weighted with matters related to the history of the Pulau Batu Puteh dispute between Malaysia and Singapore since 1979.

       Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the task force on Pulau Batu Puteh would shed light on who is responsible for Malaysia losing ownership of the island located some 7.7 nautical miles south of Johor.

       The former Johor mentri besar said he was glad with the government’s decision. He noted that the ICJ in 2008 ruled that Pulau Batu Puteh was a sovereign territory of Singapore.

       “In February 2017, the Attorney General filed an application for review of the judgment on the grounds of discovery of new evidence with the hearing date set for June 11, 2018.

       “After Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as the seventh prime minister, the Pakatan Harapan-led government decided not to continue with the review, causing Malaysia to lose ownership of Pulau Batu Puteh forever,” he added.

       Mohamed Khaled questioned the reason behind Pakatan administration’s decision at the time for not wanting to proceed with the review proceedings at the ICJ, which has never been explained.

       He said such an important decision should be explained in Parliament in a transparent and accountable manner.

       “By setting up the special task force on the case, it is very important for this team to explain in its report the real matter that caused the government at the time to withdraw its review on the Pulau Batu Puteh judgment,” he added.