Singapore and Malaysia signed a Settlement Agreement at Singapore's Foreign Ministry Tuesday as the overall resolution of their land reclamation dispute.

The agreement stipulated the payment of 374,000 Malaysian ringgit (about 100,000 US dollars) by Singapore to Malaysia as compensation for the fishermen's losses caused by the reclamation works.

Singapore may continue its works at Tuas and Pulau Tekong, as declared by the International Tribunal of the Law of the Seas in October 2003, but will abide by the agreement to modify the designof Pulau Tekong shoreline as well as ensure that the project will not obstruct the safe and smooth passage of ships.

Signed at the witness of foreign ministers of the two neighboring countries, George Yeo and Syed Hamid Albar, the agreement came as a fair and balanced outcome reached through a series of negotiations, Channel NewsAsia quoted the two governments as saying.

The two parties will resort to the arbitration tribunal for thefinal award of the issue after concluding this agreement.

Claiming that the reclamation works had violated its territorial waters, damaged its beaches and harmed its fishery in July 2003, Malaysia referred to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas for a stop work order and arbitration.

Source: Xinhua