The state government wants to take over the operations of water concessionaire Syabas after the company announced its intention to seek permission for immedi-ate rationing in several parts of the Klang Valley.
Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said Clause 32 of the concession agreement allows the state government to step in to manage operations now undertaken by Syabas although it would need the approval of the Federal Government.
“It is doubtful that there is a real water crisis in Selangor as the state water regulator and Syabas board of directors have not been informed of the proposal (to start rationing),” he said here.
“We will write to the Federal Government and SPAN (the National Water Industry Commission) and wait for their response.”
If the Federal Government rejected the request, the state might consider taking the matter to court, Khalid added.
He said state secretary Datuk Khusrin Munawi, the state water regulator and the consortium Abbas would form a committee to monitor the operations of Syabas, and a weekly report would be made public.
“Abbas will call independent experts who had experience in handling the 1998 water crisis to check the validity of the reports and information from Syabas,” he said, adding that consultants Halcrow Holdings, Suez Environment and Wessex Water would also be brought in.
According to Khalid, the present scenario was different from the water crisis in 1998 as the seven dams in Selangor were now at full capacity.
Khalid said the state water industry restructuring exercise should proceed immediately as Syabas had failed to provide good service to consumers.
On Sunday, Syabas chief executive officer Datuk Ruslan Hassan said the company was seeking permission from SPAN to ration water in Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Langat and Klang as the reserve levels at 34 treatment plants were down to an average of 2% way below the safe mark of at least 20%.
It listed 112 areas in Klang, Petaling, Hulu Langat and Kuala Lumpur as the worst hit by intermittent disruptions with some one million people affected.--TheStar
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