KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — The High Court here will decide on February 28 whether to allow Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor’s (Syabas) suit against the Selangor government to go to trial.
Selangor has argued that the suit cannot be settled through written submissions alone owing to factual disputes over whether Syabas has fulfilled the conditions that would allow it to raise water rates in the state.
Syabas, however, feels that oral evidence is irrelevant as the dispute can be resolved by interpreting its concession agreement with the state and federal governments.
“The formula is in the agreement and [the] judge should interpret it,” Syabas lawyer Datuk Harpal Singh Grewal told The Malaysian Insider.
Syabas sued the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government for RM472 million on November 10 last year for preventing the water distributor from increasing water tariffs in 2009 as provided for in its concession agreement.
The deal involving Syabas, the Selangor government and the federal government allows for conditional tariff hikes every three years.
Selangor’s water players — Syabas, Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium ABASS — are at risk of debt payment default as water bonds approach their maturity dates.
The debt service problem started when Syabas was barred from implementing a 37 per cent tariff hike agreed upon in January 2009 after the Selangor government claimed the sole water distributor had not done enough to reduce leakages which cost the state millions.
This, in turn, led to payment problems between Syabas and water treatment concessionaires PNSB, Splash and Konsortium ABASS, who supply it with treated water.
Selangor, which already owns 80 per cent of the state’s water assets, is in the process of taking over the remaining assets from the concessionaires to fulfil a statutory restructuring which will see water supply across the peninsular centralised under the federal government.
Selangor’s latest RM9 billion offer for the assets and liabilities of all four concessionaires fell through after it was rejected by three of the four water players.
A project to obtain water from Pahang has also been delayed due to the issue.
The state government has made two previous offers for the water assets.
But privatisation plans under a federal water agency have been put in deep freeze as federal and state governments engage in what industry watchers have called “excessive politicking”.
PR wants to control the state’s water assets so it can fulfil its promise to keep water cheap for Selangor residents by controlling tariffs. - Malaysian Insider
Ya. SYABAS & Puncak have done their rights. We should know what they did stated in agreement before. Legally is right!
ReplyDeleteSo, the disputes should be justified by the court. I belive both parties will agree and respect the court's decision. Unless, Khalid brutally deny!