Now Selangor says willing to discuss land lease in water deal with Putrajaya

(Malay Mail Online)- Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said today he is willing to discuss the leasing of state land to Putrajaya as part of the water agreement, hours after accusing the federal government of contravening the deal.

But Azmin stressed that the water deal, which was signed on September 12 last year, had not expressly mentioned that state land would be part of the assets to be given to Putrajaya as part of the water restructuring exercise.

“The leasing of land is something that we can discuss. I am open to discussion… but I won’t comment further. It would be premature as I do not know what they want from the state,” he told reporters at a news conference here, referring to the federal government.

Earlier today, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said Putrajaya’s demand for Selangor land did not contravene the water agreement, as the matter was part of the deal signed in September.

The energy, green technology and water minister said the land was only to be leased to the federal government for 45 years, and that it would be returned to the state once the lease expires.

“The provision on assets in the agreement is very vague… did not specifically mention land. We spelt out clearly what assets and this did not include land,” Azmin added.

The Gombak MP had said that Putrajaya violated the original terms of the water agreement by demanding for state land.

He accused the federal government of going against the spirit of the master agreement by asking “for land for free” from the state government.

Azmin told Parliament that the federal government had asked Selangor to hand over all land where 26,000km of pipes belonging to state water concessionaires were built across the state.