Rafizi: BN federal govt has it made it IMPOSSIBLE for Selangor to continue FREE WATER plan

Selangor residents who now enjoy up to 20 cubic metres of free water a month courtesy of the Pakatan Rakyat state government could possibly see an end to the programme thanks to the federal government, a Pakatan lawmaker said today.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said this was because the Barisan Nasional federal government had said that it will invoke Section 114 of the Water Industry Services Act 2006, which allows them to take over the operations and assets of Selangor's water industry and give it to an administrator of their choice, which in turn can set the price of water.

The federal government is invoking Section 114 in the midst of protracted negotiations with the Selangor government and the four concessionaires that currently manage the supply of treated water for close to eight million residents of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

The negotiations are part of the Pakatan-ruled Selangor government's plans to restructure the water industry, which it claims is being run inefficiently and wastefully by the four concessionaires.

By giving power to set prices and manage the state's water resources to a BN-controlled entity, this could make it far too costly for Pakatan-ruled Selangor to keep giving free water to residents and maintain current water prices for industries.

Rafizi said the use of Section 114 would also derail plans by the Selangor government to restructure the water industry, a plan that was an important part of the Pakatan campaign in Selangor during the 13th general election last year. - TMI