IT'S WAR! Muhyiddin & Rozali are creating a WATER tsunami for BN to DROWN

There is a popular saying, 'when Elephants fight the grass gets trampled'. The Malay version is no less powerful, 'Gajah sama gajah berlawan pelandok mati tersempit di tengah'.

In the case of the boiling hot 'water crisis' in Selangor, the residents of the state are the grass. They will get trampled and they will suffer. The Federal Government led by Prime Minister Najib Razak appears determined to play politics to the hilt. Since the state has already fallen into the hands of the Opposition, what better way to teach the people of Selangor a lesson for voting the Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general elections than to hold them to ransom over a 'manufactured' water shortage.

Deserved or not, this is the talk prevalent throughout the state. And it won't do Najib's Umno party any good or help it to win back the hearts and minds of Selangorians, among the most intelligent in the country. And this is why despite all the spin from the Umno-controlled newspapers, the fight over who controls the water industry in the state is going Pakatan's way.

How can the people not believe that Umno 'created' the water crisis, threatening water rationing so as to hammer through the RM8.65bil Langat 2 water treatment plant when there is heavy rainfall with some areas even suffering from floods.

Caught in a lie after an independent check ordered by the Selangor government, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin did not even have the grace to offer an explanation - he could only bluster his way through with a final 'proclamation' that Langat 2 would proceed to be built. Few have doubts that Langat 2 will eventually benefit Umno leaders and their cronies. And guess what - the bill will be passed onto irate taxpayers!

Umno no longer cares, all it wants is MONEY

Perhaps the Umno-led BN federal government thought it could paint the Selangor state government in a negative light by blowing up the crisis but all it has done is highlight the BN's unusual urgency for Langat 2 and pushed the people over to the side of the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor.

To block such a reckless spending spree and to tackle the problem at source by forcing water distributor Syabas to pull up its socks and raise its output of treated water, Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and team have decided to takeover Syabas and sack its chairman Rozali Ismail, who incidentally is an Umno division leader.

What is Syabas ? Some say it is a leech created by the federal government to suck the people's blood, while filling the bank accounts of the Umno elite. The fight that the Selangor Pakatan government is giving Syabas and the Federal Government is therefore appropriate because the state government has every right to protect its citizens, who voted them in.

After being exposed, Syabas now mysteriously admits there is no water shortage. The dams are full but the water is dirty and not treated. Again, Langat is brought out. Syabas now says it wants Langat 2 to be up 'soon' so that the Selangor water woes will flow away. But how soon is soon.

Rozali himself admits Langat 2 won't be ready until 2015. Did we hear it right - 2015? This means people have to wait for 3 years before they can be assured that there will be no water rationing and their taps will not run dry.

And the Langat 2 cost cost at RM 8.65 billion? Don't we smell a lot of rotten rats here? Finally, guess what! The person to oversee all that money will be none other than the DPM of Malaysia himself - Muyhiddin Yassin.

Which also raises the question of why Muhyiddin? He's in charge of Education, what does he know of water treatment and distribution? It really does not take rocket scientist to put two and two together. It sure looks some high-up people have been planning Langat 2 as their last 'cut' before the Umno-BN sings sing Auld Lang Syne and fades into obscurity after the 13th general election.

Why give in to daylight robbery that will endanger our kids' financial future

The fact is, there is really not a big water problem in Selangor. There are 20 Water Treatment plants available in the state and only Syabas is saying that all are overloaded.

Really? Malaysia is a water basin, we will never run dry - nature will see to it. It is only the less than angelic Syabas and Rozali who think that 20 treatment plants are not enough.

And if there was really a bad water problem in Selangor, as long as it isn't the fault of the state government's, don't worry. The people won't blame anyone because they sure as hell don't want any Langat 2 mucking up the state's finances and stealing from their children's financial heritage.

So go ahead, Myhyiddin and Rozali. Try your best to sabotage Selangor's water. The people will fight back, they will use the old-fashioned ways rather than give in to daylight robbery.

Dig a hole in the backyard, collect and pump the water. Then filter it the old fashioned way with layered sand. That's what my grandfather did and he did not die by using that method. In fact, he raised our generation with it.

Malaysia Chronicle