Rafizi Ramli today cautioned the Selangor state government
to be wary of Putrajaya’s decision to invoke Section 114 of the Water
Services Industry Act 2006 (Wasia).
The Act provides the Federal Government powers to
compulsorily acquire the water assets at a reasonable price in view of
national interest.
“Section 114 of Wasia allows the Federal Government through the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to take over all assets, management and concession holder on the basis that such takeover feeds national interest,” Rafizi told a press conference here.
“The final result of invoking this Act is that all the water assets in the entire of Klang Valley will be under the Federal Government alone,” he added.
Following Putrajaya’s decision, water concessionaires in Selangor, including Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Gamuda Bhd, may be forced to accept Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd’s (KDEB) offer to acquire their water assets in the state.
In response, Rafizi highlighted several conditions that should be fulfilled by Putrajaya before their takeover of Selangor’s water concessionaires. Among the four ‘red flags’ are:
1. The management of water must still reside with the Selangor state government through a subsidiary appointed by the state.
2. The evaluation by the Federal Government for each takeover must be fair and completely transparent to the people of Selangor.
3. The contract and building cost of the Langat 2 water treatment plant must be fair and transparent to the people of Selangor.
4. A guarantee that there will be no water price hike until year 2020 by focusing on non-revenue water.
“My greatest fear is that BN will manipulate the situation and increase water tariff, hoping that the people of Selangor will punish Pakatan in the next general election and this will influence the results of the next GE,” he said.
“Therefore I hope the state of Selangor will continue to resist and fight if any actions of the BN government will lead to breaching the four ‘red flags’ I have raised.
“It is only proper for the state of Selangor to be vigilant and do anything in power to be careful of the political ploy of BN.”
Raw water license
On Wednesday, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim announced that the state and federal governments will be jointly taking over the management of the four water management companies under Section 114 of Wasia.
Khalid also said that the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) has been ordered to issue a raw water licence to state-owned company KDEB, in line with the state government’s plans to restructure the water industry.
“The raw water licence that has been given to water concessionaires, including Puncak Niaga, will be cancelled,” he said.
“We are confident that the federal government can work things out smoothly under Section 114 of Wasia so as to pave way for the restructuring of the water industry in the state,” added Khalid.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili announced last Thursday that Putrajaya is refining the details for a joint takeover of four water concessionaires in Selangor and that the deal should be concluded this week, which may mark the end of the state’s lingering water problems.
The minister noted that Selangor has also expressed its support to the federal government’s idea for a new water treatment plant, the Langat 2.
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