SHAH ALAM, 12 Mar: The Federal Government finally agreed to enforce Section 114 of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA) in making the restructuring programme of the water industry in Selangor a success.
The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said that the Federal Government will also use its power under the WSIA and acts, laws or regulations that applies, to help Selangor implement the proposed acquisition of the water services industry.
“The Federal Government and the State Government are also willing to take necessary measures in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed earlier.
“This is to ensure the water services in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are more sustainable and economically viable,” he said in a statement issued with the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) last night.
Yesterday, Abdul Khalid attended further discussion with the KeTTHA Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, regarding the restructuring of the Selangor water industry.
During the meeting, Maximus reiterated his commitment to help facilitate the State Government acquire the water services from the four water concessionaires, as agreed in the MoU.
On 26 February, the state-owned company, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) made a formal offer of RM9.65 billion to purchase the equity of the four water concessionaires, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SPLASH) and Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (ABASS).
The offer period, which ended at 5pm yesterday, however only witnessed ABBAS being the sole concessionaire that received the offer, while the three other concessionaires, SYABAS, Puncak Niaga and SPLASH, have been considered to have rejected the offer.
