MB's aide: Selangor water woes are Khir's doing

The Selangor government is holding former menteri besar Dr Khir Toyo responsible for the potential problems surrounding the supply of water by granting lopsided water concessions.

In a statement yesterday, Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's political secretary Faekah Husin (left) said the federal government must take this into consideration when negotiatingwith Selangor to resolve its water woes.

"The federal government must remember that the problems over water in Selangor began when Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Bhd (Syabas) was allowed to raise water tariffs without considering the needs of the public who were suffering from the economic crisis.

"The BN government that was led by Khir signed a concession agreement with Syabas which allowed rates to increase in 2009 (37 percent), 2012 (25 percent), 2015 (20 percent) 2018 (10 percent) and 2021 (5 percent)," said Faekah.

Faekah described Syabas as a crony company and the deal did not take the public's interest into account.

Selangor is currently trying to stall the scheduled tariff hike while it negotiates terms for the federal government's attempt to federalisewater management in all states.

Unfazed at Syabas legal threat

At the same time, Syabas is contemplating suing the state government for RM1 billion in compensation over the delays in water tariff adjustments.

Faekah said that the Pakatan Rakyat state government now has to resolve a problem caused by Khir's (right) administration, because the new administration wants to provide efficient and reasonably-priced water.

"Khir should be ashamed when he talks about any topic concerning the public interest, be it sand or water, because he had denied the rights of the public to enjoy good water services," she added.

She said that the public had the right to know about Khir's alleged wrongdoings and urged the federal government to declassify the water concession documents and related audit reports.

"The federal government should look at this seriously when discussing the matter during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," she said.
Faekah added that the state government was unfazed by Syabas' legal threat and was still mulling legal action against the company for alleged dereliction of duty which has caused losses of not less than RM8 billion.

courtesy of Malaysiakini