RM3.41 BILLION spent just to BAIL OUT SYABAS

The latest RM120 million ‘additional allocation’ to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) has pushed the total bailout provided by the BN government to the embattled water concessionaire to a staggering RM3.41 billion since December 2009.

“It is clear to all Malaysians that the BN Government would rather continue to keep Syabas afloat by keeping the company on life-support with billions of ringgit of the rakyat’s money to protect it’s crony’s profit and interests,” said Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua.

Pua said the recent RM120 million allocation to SYABAS as announced by prime minister Najib Razak was proof of the company's incompetence, and vindicated the Selangor state government of accusations that it caused the recent water crisis.

“It has nothing to do with the shortage of raw water which requires immediate water transfer from Pahang via the exhorbitant RM9 billion Langat 2 project,” said Pua.

He added that the crisis was the result of a deliberate under-investment by SYABAS to upgrade its infrastructure which includes water treatment plants, additional treated water capacity and upgrading old and broken pipes.

However, Pua said the Federal or state government had no good reason to inject SYABAS with financial aid as such obligation was not mentioned under the Water Concession Agreement.

“Hence, the RM120 million handout to SYABAS is not a grant by the Federal Government intended to assist the people of the state but is instead a well-disguised scheme to bailout SYABAS. Over the past 3-4 years, the Federal Government has bailed-out SYABAS to the tune of billions of ringgit to keep SYABAS afloat,” he said.

Chronologising the bailout, Pua said it started in December 2009 when the BN government extended its 20-year RM320.8 million zero-interest soft loan to SYABAS.

This was followed by another extension of another 20-year RM110 million loan in October 2011 and then taking over of a RM2.9 billion bond which almost expired the subsequent month.

Pua questioned whether SYABAS has repaid a single sen of the RM2.9 billion bond bail-out.

“Over the above period, the BN government has already extended bailout funds of RM3.41 billion to SYABAS in total,” he added.

Last week, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim announced the state’s plan to buy over SYABAS and other water concessionaires. However, the Federal government has so far not given any formal response to the proposal.

-Harakahdaily