Rep: Selangor Government abusing its powers

(Bernama) - The Selangor Government's move to freeze Syabas' capital expenditure from 2008 until now is an abuse of power, says Permatang assemblyman Sulaiman Abdul Razak.

He said the state government took no responsibility when Selangor faced a water supply crisis and denied the company from seeking funds from internal or external sources such as commercial banks.

However, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced a RM120mil allocation to overcome water supply problems in Selangor recently, it was criticised as a bail-out to save a crony company.

“Why didn't the state government extend any assistance in dealing with the Selangor water crisis? They only talk, criticise and dish out allegations about the Federal Government and Syabas but don't help in any way,” he said.

Sulaiman clarified that Syabas was only a company that distributed treated water bought from companies which processed raw water, and it was up to the state government to ensure the processed water supplied to residents in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya was sufficient.

“I don't see why they are making the RM120mil allocation an issue when they have not contributed anything to overcome the water problems in Selangor,” he said.

He urged Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to take some responsibility for the water crisis by retracting the freeze on capital expenditure to allow Syabas to operate without political interference.

When asked to give an example of the abuse, Sulaiman said Syabas should have already replaced 2,000km of old pipes to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) as stated in its concession agreement, but only 800km were replaced following the freeze.