By Khairul Khalid
Khalid Ibrahim
The federal government will not consider any more new proposals by Selangor’s water concessionaires, says Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Khalid Ibrahim in a statement.
“The matter is now moot. The offer is now academic following the federal government’s decision to invoke Section 114 of WSIA (Water Services Industry Act). We offered all concessionaires a total of RM9.65 billion with the option of arbitration but the offer has since lapsed last March 10,” said Khalid.
The MB is referring to a recent report that one of the concessionaires Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor (Splash) has just offered to sell its water assets for “the right price.”
A MoU (memorandum of understanding) announced last month between the Selangor MB and Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Maximus Ongkili paved the way for the state takeover of Selangor’s water concessionaires and approval for the long delayed Langat 2 water treatment project.
The federal government decided to enact WSIA after three out of the four concessionaires failed to agree on the latest offer of RM9.65 billion stated in the MoU to resolve the longstanding issue. WSIA allows a forced federal takeover of Selangor water assets if it is deemed to be in national interest.
Nevertheless, last week both state and federal government were sending mixed messages regarding the invoking of WSIA.
Ongkili had backtracked on the enforcing of WSIA, claiming that he is still hopeful of a “willing buyer, willing seller” deal between the state government and water concessionaires.
He also announced last week that the federal government will take interim control of the state’s water assets for three years. Khalid has subsequently denied this and asserted that Selangor state will still be in control of the water assets after restructuring.
“In a meeting today, we have been assured that the federal government is still committed to invoke section 114 of WSIA. There will be no changes or new proposals from the MoU we signed last month. We also settled a few loose ends regarding the final steps in invoking WSIA,” Khalid said.
He also adds that there will be a follow-up meeting next week with the minister and officers from the Attorney General’s Chambers to discuss the issue further.
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