BN MPs shout 'menteri besar bodoh' as Selangor MB Azmin Ali asks minister to state the price for water-treatment concessionaire as determined by evaluator Deloitte.
DEWAN RAKYAT
KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat was in brief chaos today while discussing the water crisis in the Klang Valley.
Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) stood up to answer a question instead of asking a question during the Ministerial Question Time (MQT) today.
He said: “I have to answer first before questioning.”
He was reminded by deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee that he had only 30 seconds to ask an additional question during the MQT.
Azmin then proceeded to state how Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili had earlier said that the Selangor government had not announced the value for the takeover of Splash (Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor).
“But do you (Maximus) agree that the federal government, through the Cabinet, took the decision to appoint an independent evaluator to ensure the real value to be paid to Splash.
“However, until today, the Cabinet has failed to inform the state government on the cost determined by Deloitte, the company appointed by the government themselves,” the Selangor menteri besar said.
Azmin said this in response to the original question during the MQT where Maximus (BN-Kota Marudu) replied to a question asking him to state the reasons why the takeover process of Splash between the federal government and the Selangor state government to resolve the water crisis in the Klang Valley had to be postponed twice and is yet to be finalised.
The question by Budiman Mohd Zohdi (BN-Sungai Besar) was also to ask on the level of cooperation given by the Selangor state government to ensure the matter can be resolved.
Azmin said that in a letter dated May 28, 2017, the ministry did not state the price quoted by Deloitte following the evaluation exercise it had carried out.
Secondly, Azmin said: “Now the question is, it is not that the state government has not given an offer. It is the Federal government who has failed to inform on the price quoted by Deloitte.”
The deputy speaker then reminded Azmin that he had spoken more than the allotted time and he was told to sit down.
At this point, shouting could be heard at the background in the Dewan stating: “Menteri Besar bodoh (stupid).”
Ongkili then stood up and said: “In Selangor everything is politicised. Even water is politicised. This is the problem.”
About the cost evaluation by Deloitte, Maximus said it was kept private and confidential because it was carried out for the government to be used as a price reference.
“When you want to offer to Splash, we can then say what is the fair price.
Azmin then stood up and said: “Why don’t you share the price with us.”
Ongkili instead asked Azmin to make an offer first as the deal was to be done on a “willing seller and a willing buyer” basis.
Previously, the energy, green technology and water ministry said the acquisition of Splash was still in the negotiation stage between the federal government, Selangor state government and other related companies.
The ministry, in a written reply to the Dewan Rakyat today, said based on the agreement signed on Sept 12, 2014, the acquisition process should have been finalised by Oct 7, 2016.
However, the date was extended for the first time for a period of six months, ending April 6 this year, with the agreement of the relevant parties, before being extended a second time, for a further six months until Oct 5, as the negotiation process for the takeover was not finalised.
According to the ministry, the federal government has yet to receive any formal application from the Selangor state government on the loan amount to finance the acquisition of equity in Splash -FMT
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