BNSC drowns Pua's 'free water' argument against bankrupt claim

Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua's dismissal of the claim that Pakatan Harapan's plan to abolish GST if it wins Putrajaya will bankrupt the nation, citing Selangor's free water policy as proof, is simplistic and misleading, BN strategic department deputy director Eric See-To said.

"Yes, the Selangor government has not gone bankrupt... yet.

“But what Pua forgot to tell you is that last month, the Selangor water treatment plants operator Splash had sued the 100 percent Selangor government-owned Syabas for unpaid bills totalling RM4.22 billion,” See-To added in a media statement.

During the Selangor water crisis earlier in the year, he said, Splash revealed that after the Selangor government took over the water distribution company Syabas, it started to pay only 36 percent of the bills from Splash, resulting in arrears of RM4.22 billion now.

He noted that since this is a matter of unpaid bills, the chances of Syabas losing the case is real.

“Since Pua pointed out that Selangor's state reserves are only RM3.2 billion now, does it mean the Selangor government will indeed go bankrupt if Syabas loses the case and has to pay RM4.22 billion? Or will the Selangor government just let Syabas go bankrupt and stop supplying water to everyone in Selangor and FT?

“As far as I know, RM3.2 billion is not enough to pay RM4.22 billion,” he added.

See-To said Pua also revealed that the Selangor government's yearly spending had increased from RM1.2 billion since they took over the state to RM2.8 billion now - a 133 percent increase.

According to him, the Penang government did worse and increased its yearly spending by almost 500 percent in the same period - all funded by selling or trading away Penang state land and assets worth RM37 billion.

“Compare this to the 40 percent increase in yearly federal government spending in the same period and you will see the claims that Harapan can eliminate wastage, increase efficiency and be prudent in spending are all false promises which Harapan cannot deliver.

“Yes, it is easy to claim Selangor has not gone bankrupt yet by giving free water as long as you don't pay your bills - or in the case of Penang, by selling off all state assets to fund big increases in yearly state government spending.

“Is Harapan telling Malaysians that their example of good governance is to have triple-digit increases in yearly government spending to be funded by either not paying your bills or by selling or trading away all state land and assets?” See-To asked. - Mkini