Azmin: Selangor committed to finding solution to water deal
(Malay Mail Online) – The Selangor state government is committed to finding a swift solution to its long-held ambition to restructure the state’s water industry, provided that its federal counterpart lives up to its end of the bargain, Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said today.
Azmin said it is a matter of principle that all agreements signed by the state are honoured by all the signatories, especially if it is for the benefit of the people of Selangor.
“I have repeatedly said we are committed to settling the master agreement on Selangor’s water industry, on the condition that the federal government does not shift from the spirit and principles of the terms of the agreement signed,” he said at the lobby of the Selangor State Assembly.
Earlier, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah told the state government to abide by the master agreement it signed with Putrajaya to find a swift solution to the state’s water industry restructuring plans.
In his royal address on the first day of the Selangor State Assembly sitting today, Sultan Sharafuddin also urged Azmin to remain firm in upholding the sovereignty of Selangor and the interests of the state’s people when negotiating the deal with the federal government.
Azmin today said discussions between officials of both governments were carried out last Monday, and he is currently waiting on Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Maximus J. Ongkili to return to Kuala Lumpur to set a meeting.
“I understand he is in Sabah. When he returns from Sabah, I will set a meeting as soon as possible.
“Our officials already had a meeting last Monday and I will follow that up with a meeting with the minister to settle the issue,” he said.
Earlier, Azmin claimed that Putrajaya wanted Selangor to hand over land on which 26,000km of pipes belonging to state water concessionaires are laid across, allegedly breaching the original terms of the September deal.
The PKR deputy president claimed that representatives from both state and federal governments listed assets consisting of pipes, water treatment plants, reservoirs and pump stations valued at RM14.9 billion in the agreement, but not land.
Under the water agreement, Selangor was meant to infuse a new special purpose vehicle — Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd — with RM14.92 billion in assets to manage the water-restructuring exercise with Putrajaya.
The federal government was also to provide RM2 billion to help offset the state’s cost of taking over the four concessionaires — Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.
In return, Selangor would provide all necessary approvals for the construction of the Langat 2 water treatment plant that it had previously resisted.
