By Khairul Khalid
Khalid Ibrahim
Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is willing to consider a last-minute appeal by Puncak Niaga and Syabas (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) to revert to the state’s last takeover offer of RM9.65 billion that expired last March 10 2014, he said in a statement.
“Selangor is ready to consider Puncak Niaga and Syabas’ appeal before Section 114 of WSIA (Water Services Industry Act) is enforced by the federal government. This is as long as the takeover costs do not exceed RM9.65 billion,” said Khalid.
This is despite Khalid’s earlier confirmation that the forced takeover of the state’s water concessionaires under WSIA would save the state RM2 billion by reducing payment to the water players to RM7.65 billion.
Only days ago, Rozali Ismail chief executive officer (CEO) of Puncak Niaga and Syabas conceded to the federal takeover of Selangor’s water concessionaires under WSIA.
Rozali also announced that he will be calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to present the takeover offer for the consideration of company shareholders.
The Puncak Niaga and Syabas CEO declared this after the government officially announced cabinet approval of WSIA.
The federal government enacted WSIA after three out of the four concessionaires failed to agree on the last offer of RM9.65 billion stated in the MoU (memorandum of understanding) to resolve the longstanding water restructuring issue.
According to MB, the appeal by Puncak Niaga and Syabas was made in an official letter dated 7 April 2014. The matter was subsequently brought to his attention by the minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water (Kettha) Maximus Ongkili the following day.
“Any increase in takeover costs would have a negative impact to water tariffs and ultimately burden the 5 million water users in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” said Khalid.
The MB adds that Selangor is still committed to continue the water restructuring of the water industry with Kettha.
Other than Puncak Niaga and Syabas, the other Selangor water concessionaires are Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (Splash) and Konsortium Abass, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Selangor state.“We thank Kettha for its cooperation in the water restructuring efforts by invoking WSIA. We will continue our discussion on the best modus operandi to execute the takeover of water assets under WSIA,” said Khalid.
At 5.00pm, Puncak Niaga was down 1 sen at RM2.94 while Gamuda ended the day 7 sen higher at RM4.55.
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