SHAH ALAM, 28 Feb: The four concession companies managing the water industry in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have began to respond positively towards the RM9.65 billion offer by the Selangor State Government to takeover their operations, said Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
According to him, all four concessionaires have submitted response letters to the State Government and it is deemed to be a good sign for the acquisition of the water industry in Selangor.
However, he said that formal announcements on the matter will only be informed further starting tomorrow.
“All this which the Federal Government has been assuming that all concessionaires will reject the offer given by the State Government, but what has happened now is the opposite.
“The State Government will write to the concessionaires concerned to provide further information on this acquisition process, where it will be carried out in stages.
“This altogether demonstrates that the State Government knows what it is doing in the interest of the people. This is the first time that the concession companies have responded to the State Government.
“It is a good sign,” he told TV Selangor in an exclusive interview at his office at the State Secretariat Building this morning.
He added that if all four concession companies accept the State Government’s offer, the Federal Government will have no reason to oppose the State Government’s decision to takeover the water operations.
He also reiterated his stand to continue to defend water rights in the interest of the people and to ensure that consumers receive continuous water supply at a reasonable price.
“If Pakatan Rakyat (PR) did not win in the 12th General Elections (GE-12), the water tariffs in Selangor would have increased by almost 70 percent and if this state is still under the administration of Umno-BN, I believe that its Chief Minister will not even dare to stop the increase in water tariffs.
“But under the R Government, we have fulfilled our promise to not raise water tariffs,” he added.
Yesterday, the State Government announced the RM9.65 billion offer to all four of the concessionaires to takeover their operations.
The four companies are; the Selangor Water Supply Company (Syabas), Puncak Niaga San Bhd, Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd (Abbas) and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holding (Splash).
The offer gives greater returns to equity holders of all four of the companies compared to the current returns of only six percent per annum.
If this offer is accepted, the State Government will manage the entire treated water supply system which all this while have been facing problems of high rates of water losses, supply disruptions and unreasonable increases in price.
