SHAH ALAM, 26 Feb: Today, the Selangor Government and the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable the Selangor Government to acquire the equities of four concessionaires.
The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said that the acquisition is expected to be fully completed in three months.
The four water concessionaires are Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash), and Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (ABBAS).
Abdul Khalid said that these four companies will be placed under one water concession under Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (DEB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Selangor Government.
“This acquisition involves the acquisition of the equity stake as well as the responsibility, and does not involve the cessation of non-management employees.
“KDEB will pay RM9.65 billion to the shareholders of the dour concessionaires, while the Federal Government will pump RM2 billion to help the State Government in the acquisition of shares,” said Abdul Khalid in a press statement.
Abdul Khalid said in return, the Selangor Government will issue the planning permission for the construction of the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant and Distribution System (LRAL2).
While waiting for Langat 2 to be completed, the Selangor Government will implement three key responsibilities to ensure adequate supply of clean water by carrying out a mitigation programme worth RM900 million provided by the Federal Government.
The first responsibility is to begin the Horas (Hybrid Off River Augmentation System) project at Sungai Selangor which is able to supply between 600 to 700 million litres per day (MLD), or 3 billion litres in 2050, of clean water, with the ground-breaking ceremony held in two weeks from now.
The second is to lower the percentage of non-revenue water (NRW), from 33 percent to a lower level in six months, a the high percentage of NRW has been failed to be reduced by Syabas; the main reason why there is insufficient clean water supply.
“I would like to thank the Federal Government and the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Datuk Seri Panglima De Maximus Ongkili, on their cooperation to finalise the restructuring of the water industry in Selangor, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” said Abdul Khalid.
Abdul Khalid said that the MoU is right at the time when the people are struggling with the water supply crisis and this clearly proves that the water industry needs to be restructured for more efficient service and is sustainable with a reasonable water tariff.
