Selangor to sign new, detailed water agreement with Putrajaya
The Selangor state government will draft another agreement with Putrajaya, one which will contain details on the newly-minted water asset deal signed last week.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said this was decided yesterday after a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“The federal government has agreed to sign a heads of agreement with the Selangor government, which contains a more comprehensive and detailed agreement on Selangor’s water restructuring plans,” Khalid told reporters at a news conference here.
A heads of agreement is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a preliminary agreement. It will be enforceable if and when it is adopted into a parent contract and subsequently agreed upon.
He said the agreement will be drafted by both the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and state-owned Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Sdn Bhd (KDEB), and is expected to be signed by both parties as soon as possible.
“These developments show the commitment by both parties towards the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last week,” Khalid added.
He said that he would inform Selangor economic advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well as other Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders soon.
The hastily signed MoU between Selangor and Putrajaya has added to the intrigue surrounding the March 23 Kajang by-election, itself already a complex affair that is believed to be designed to allow Anwar to replace Khalid as MB.
A day after its signing last week, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin came out to trumpet that the deal was “irrevocable”.
This prompted Anwar to claim that there is still wriggle room in Selangor’s water deal with Putrajaya, although he conceded that this claim was made without viewing the document.
MoUs are often expressions of intent signed between two or more parties before they enter a legally binding agreement.
On Monday, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli alleged that the hastily signed water deal between Selangor and Putrajaya was not only lopsided and possibly illegal, but will lead to an inevitable spike in water tariffs statewide.
Under the MoU, Selangor will take over the operations of four water concessionaires — Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Bhd (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash) — for RM9.65 billion, and will place these under the state-owned Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Sdn Bhd (KDEB).
In return, Selangor undertakes to provide the necessary approvals for the construction of the controversial Langat 2 water treatment plant, which PR has fought since it first took control of the state in Election 2008.
