Exco: Stop lying, Syabas

Ronnie Liu has issued another warning to Syabas, and also Puncak Niaga, to stop talking about a 'manufactured water crisis'.

PETALING JAYA: “Stop lying or you would end up hanging yourselves!”

This was the repeated warning from Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu to state water concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and water treatment operator Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd over the Selangor “water crisis” issue.

“What crisis are they talking about? All the dams are full and rivers are full. Stop lying, stop bluffing, be professional,” said the local government, research and development committee chairman.

He warned that both Puncak Niaga and Syabas should back off from its threat to start rationing water, and should also stop entertaining the thought of “manufacturing a crisis”.

“I know you can turn off the taps and create this whole water crisis, but we’re watching. They should stop talking about it or else they would end up hanging themselves, ” he told FMT.

Liu said that Syabas was contradicting itself when it initially said that there was a dry spell and later on claimed that the shortage was with treated water.

He said that Syabas could blame the government if there was no clean raw water and if the water was polluted, but that was not the case.

“Now, your statement indirectly means that you admitted that you have failed,” he said.

Liu said that the official letter from the state government to take over Syabas would be sent today and it had 14 days to reply.

Otherwise, said Liu, the state would be forced to invoke a clause within the concessionaire agreement that allowed it to legally take over operations, with permission from the federal government.

He also noted that a team of “high level” professionals had been sent by the government to monitor and assist in the daily operations of Syabas. The group was made up of experts from Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB).

On Tuesday, Liu visited the dams in Selangor and said that water levels at all seven were at peak capacity.

He reportedly said if Syabas was indeed incapable of treating the water, then it should support the state government’s plan to take over its operations.