Selangor open to land lease deal with Putrajaya, says Azmin

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali (second from right) said the state is willing to discuss with Putrajaya over plans to lease state lands where the water pipes are. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, March 10, 2015.

Dialling down from its earlier stance following the lapse of the water deal, Selangor today said it is willing to discuss with Putrajaya over plans to lease state lands where the water pipes were located.

"This is something we can discuss, we are open for discussion," Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali said at the Parliament lobby today after paying a courtesy call to Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia this afternoon.

The Gombak MP however insisted the agreement did not specifically mentioned the word "land", instead using "vague" provisions with terms such as "moveable" and "immovable assets".

"Our discussions from day one only touched on assets for Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB), there is nothing beyond that," he said.

Earlier this morning, Azmin said the Selangor water deal tanked because Putrajaya wanted for free the land where the water pipes were located.

He said the land was not part of the agreement signed between the state government and the Barisan Nasional federal government on September 12, 2014.

The 26,000km of pipes were among the assets listed in the agreement.

"The failure to continue with the master agreement was due to the federal government's refusal to respect the main agreement signed last September.

"They want the land for free, the land does not belong to them. What was stated in the agreement and agreed upon by both sides was to handover the assets owned by the concessionaires.

"If we agreed to that, the state government will lose its sovereignty on the land," he said at an earlier press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili however said Putrajaya did not renege on the Selangor water deal by demanding free land as the provision was already inked in the master agreement.

If need be, the federal government is willing to lease the land from Selangor, he added.

"We will only lease it for 45 years, we are not permanently taking over the lands."

The master agreement was signed by Azmin's predecessor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim last year, aimed at taking over operations of the RM30 billion Selangor water industry from four private companies and returning it to public ownership.

The terms of the master agreement include state special-purpose vehicle Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (PASSB) acquiring Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd (Abass) and services licence-holder Konsortium Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.

PAAB will pay RM1.68 billion to facilitate the concession acquisitions and
in return, the Selangor government will turn over the water assets to PAAB for a period of 45 years.

PAAB will lease water assets to PASSB, which will pay a fee to PAAB, at a rate that will be determined between the two parties and set out in the facility and lease agreements.

Azmin yesterday announced that Selangor would not grant Putrajaya a third extension on the Selangor water restructuring deal, which lapsed yesterday, accusing the federal government of breaching the agreement terms.

- TMI