BN all out to recapture Selangor

In my first column on Aug 2 last year, I wrote that the Selangor government was still holding up approval of a development order to the federal government to build the Langat 2 water treatment plant, a crucial component in the RM3.94 billion project to channel raw water from Pahang via a 44.6km-long pipeline to Selangor. Many months have since passed and the state government has given all sorts of excuses for not granting the order despite strenuous efforts especially by Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin to get the project going.

Azman Ujang, The Sun Daily

OF THE five states that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition won in the 2008 general election, losing Selangor stunned and stung Barisan Nasional the most.

Selangor seems to have everything going for it. It is our fastest growing and most developed state, the hub that attracts so much direct foreign and domestic investment and a major contributor to the gross national product.

Malaysians nationwide flock to the state in search of jobs and business opportunities. The rate of migration to Selangor, which forms the bulk of the Klang Valley, is virtually impossible to track with certainty. One has only to look at the mushrooming construction cranes as developers frenetically try to complete housing projects to cope with demand in Malaysia’s most densely populated belt.

So Selangor is the prized possession that slipped from BN’s grasp and some four years later, the party seems unable yet to psychologically recover from the loss.

That the BN is relentless in its bid to recapture Selangor in a general election expected this year is all too obvious. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has assigned himself the task of heading the state Umno liaison body to ensure that nothing but the maximum in terms of effort is put into reassuming control of the Selangor government.

Last month alone, Najib attended three functions in the state to send out the message to the people that the myriad of problems they have faced in the last four years won’t be settled if the PR government remains in power.

PR wrested control of Selangor in the political tsunami of 2008 amidst populist promises to voters, one of which was free water. This promise has been kept since, but is not giving free water dangerous from the point of view of conservation of this scarce vital resource?

Also there is intense politicking by the state government in its dealing with water industry players which potentially can bring dire consequences with a critical water crisis looming as early as 2014.

Najib said on his visits to Selangor that he could feel the public’s frustration over empty promises in a host of other issues. In one event in Shah Alam, he was told by traders at the Selangor Economic Development Corporation complex that rentals at the shopping centre had been raised by the government-owned corporation by 100%.

There has also been a spate of news reports on problems faced by thousands of flat dwellers as well as matters such as inefficient rubbish collection after the state government terminated the contract of Alam Flora granted by the previous government. Hard-pressed local councils have since been ordered to take over this vital service and have in turn appointed contractors on a monthly basis which had led to uncollected garbage for days on end.

The first salvo against the Selangor government headed by Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was fired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin early last year after Khalid failed in his bid to amend the state constitution. It was to empower the state government to make key appointments to the state civil service such as the state secretary, state financial officer and legal adviser.

This followed the appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the state secretary which Khalid initially objected to on ground that he was not consulted over the matter.

Muhyiddin had said that Khalid should by right resign as mentri besar as the failure to get the amendment passed in the State Legislative Assembly was tantamount to a vote of no-confidence against him.

Muhyiddin said Selangor’s status as the fastest growing state was being seriously undermined and that this would continue as long as the PR government ruled the state.

To the Khalid administration, the onslaught by Najib and Muhyiddin may be dismissed as political talk, but independent observers and investors have reason to be concerned about the impasse especially over the water issue.

In my first column on Aug 2 last year, I wrote that the Selangor government was still holding up approval of a development order to the federal government to build the Langat 2 water treatment plant, a crucial component in the RM3.94 billion project to channel raw water from Pahang via a 44.6km-long pipeline to Selangor. Many months have since passed and the state government has given all sorts of excuses for not granting the order despite strenuous efforts especially by Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin to get the project going.

Even a non-political person like Tenaga Nasional Berhad president and CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Noh has shown frustration with the Selangor government over the three-year delay in a vital project by TNB to lay 59-km high voltage cables to boost power supply to the central regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

The snag is over a 1.5-km stretch at Kampung Sungai Terentang in Rawang. Yet again, politics has entered the fray.

The state government despite knowing that TNB has the expertise and experience in power generation and transmission, tries to delay the project by “appointing consultants” to verify the project, a normal tactic it likes to employ.

“Consultants upon consultants have been appointed and TNB looks at this as an excuse to stall the project. I feel Selangor doesn’t look at the overall agenda but merely a personal agenda,” Che Khalib said.
It is perhaps this kind of unreasonableness by people he is dealing with that led him to announce last week that he will not agree to an extension of his contract due to expire soon. If he does not, he would be giving up one of the most plum jobs in the country.

I’ve lived in Selangor for 30 years and it’s sad to see politics standing in the way of common sense even in such vital matters as water and electricity supply. Where do we go from here? Over to you, the voters.