By Khairul Khalid
Selangor’s Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has confirmed that the forced takeover of the state’s water concessionaires will reduce the total amount paid to the water players by RM2 billion to RM7.65 billion.
“The concessionaires are now subjected to Section 114 of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA 2006) and this will have a positive impact on the state government and the people of Selangor as total payment to concessionaires is expected to be reduced by as much as RM2 billion compared to the previous offer of RM9.65 billion,” Khalid said in an official statement.
Yesterday, the federal government announced that it would finally exercise its rights under WSIA to force the acquisition Selangor’s water assets after three out of the four concessionaires failed to agree on the latest offer stated in the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding).
Khalid state ensures that the savings will be used effectively to improve the quality of water services to more than 7 million users in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Khalid also reiterates the state’s efforts to reduce non-revenue water (NRW).
“Our main objective is to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) with efforts including implementation of district metered zones (DMZ)/ district metered areas (DMA), integrated meter management, replacement of existing pipes with fibre optic option and setting up of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect leaks in the underground distribution system,” Khalid said.
Khalid also records his thanks to the federal government and the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water for agreeing to facilitate the restructuring of the state water industry following the negative response by the water concessionaires to the state’s takeover offer.
The Selangor MB has also announced the declassification of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the State and Federal Governments on 26 February 2014.
“The MOU is now under the care of the Selangor State Assembly where members of the public who are interested to sight the document may now make the application in line with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment. However, the MoU cannot be reproduced in any form,” said Khalid
Khalid also gives his assurance that mitigation plans has been implemented to ensure the undisrupted supply of treated water. The groundbreaking ceremony of the Hybrid off River Augmentation System (HORAS) 600 will be held in Kampung Sungai Darah, Bestari Jaya in Kuala Selangor this Sunday which is expected to be completed July 2015.
“The state government is confident that the cooperation with the federal government will ensure the success of the water industry restructuring. In the meantime, we sincerely hope that the people will continue to remain patient and use water sparingly while awaiting the improvement of water services,” said Khalid.
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