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Khalid announces free
household water and lopsided water deal
17/03/2008 By: V. Shankar Ganesh
SHAH ALAM, Mon:
In his first Press conference as Selangor Mentri Besar today, Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim made two key announcements: the first 20 cubic metres of water is
free to all Selangor households from April, and the eve of polling day water
treatment plant deal between Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Selangor
Government is lopsided to the concessionaire’s advantage.
The free water concession would be discussed first by the Exco before it
could be implemented but it was to fulfill a PKR election campaign promise,
he said. “This could be achieved if cost was lowered so that revenue was
channeled back to consumers,” he said. “To achieve this, review of all water
agreements are expected.”
Khalid said the state legal adviser had been told to write to the company to
declassify documents as his calculations showed that profits derived from
water revenue was more to their advantage. “There is imbalance in the
revenue given to the State and the people. It can only enrich the
concessionaire” he told a Press conference at his official residence here
for the first time.
Khalid said he had only seen the agreement at a glance and that he had to
study it further.
The water deal was for Puncak Niaga to operate, manage and maintain the raw
water intake and treatment plant situated on land beside a canal near Sungai
Sireh, Tanjung Karang in Kuala Selangor.
While the deal was signed on March 7, the actual contract itself took effect
on April 1, 2007 and was concluded pursuant to Clause 3(a) (vi) of the
Concession Agreement dated Dec 15, 2004, between the Federal government, the
state government and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), for a
concession period of twenty-seven (27) years, commencing on April 1, 2007
and expiring on April 30, 2034.
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