Veil stays on Syabas papers, appeals court rules

Santiago’s CAWP had previously won a landmark decision to have the documents declassified. — file pic

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 25 — The Court of Appeal decided today to keep secret the concession agreement between Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) with the federal government as well as an audit on the firm, overturning a lower court’s ruling.

The decision was made by two of the three-man panel comprising Datin Paduka Zaleha Zahari, Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin and Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus.

Hishamudin had dissented and upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision, citing the right to information in this issue as water was a basic necessity and that there should be good governance and transparency.

The applicants’ lawyer, Ang Hean Leng, later said the High Court judgment should have been upheld as average users would be “adversely affected”, adding that today’s ruling meant consumers “do not have legal standing to request for information related to the water supply and water rates”.

“We think that is not correct. They must have a right,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.

He then said he will file for leave to appeal to the Federal Court within 13 days, after getting the green light from his clients.

In a landmark judgement, the High Court on June 28 last year ordered the contents of the documents to be disclosed, as requested by Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP).

Klang MP and co-ordinator for the CAWP, Charles Santiago, had filed for the judicial review in 2007 seeking to declare the audit report and the 2004 concession agreement signed by Syabas, the Selangor government and the federal government as public documents.

Judicial commissioner Hadhariah Syed Ismail had stated in her 19-page judgement that she was not convinced such a disclosure would be harmful to national security or public interest, as claimed by Syabas and the Ministry of Green Technology, Energy, Water.

CAWP comprises the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) and 13 others from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, including Santiago himself.

In the appeal, senior federal counsel Datin Azizah Nawawi had challenged the locus standi of CAWP on the grounds that the latter had no legal right to the documents as there was no law in Malaysia guaranteeing a right to information.

Outside the court, Santiago proceeded to lambast today’s ruling.

“If you can’t afford to pay for water, that means you are denied to the rights of water. I mean the argument that was given is ridiculous,” the MP said.

He claimed that between 2005 and 2009, there were about 870,000 water disconnections in Selangor, Putrajaya, and Kuala Lumpur. Between January and September last year, the number was 100,000.

“Almost one million disconnections that took place. Therefore to say that tariffs do not have any implications on access to water is nonsensical,” he said.

Santiago pointed out that the ruling runs contrary to what the government said that they practice: transparency, good governance, accountability.

Syabas was allowed to raise water tariffs after the company said it had complied with the requirement to reduce non-revenue water by five per cent.

Non-revenue water is the difference between water produced and water lost through leakages, faulty meters and theft.

The energy, water and communications minister had earlier rejected the coalition’s request on the grounds that the concession agreement was confidential and the audit report, an official secret.

Syabas provides water for Selangor and both the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. - Malaysian Insider