SHAH ALAM, 12 Nov: The fully-owned state government subsidiary company, Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, finally concluded the share purchase with Puncak Niaga Holding Berhad (PNHB).

The Chief Minister, Mohamed Azmin Ali, said that the share purchase involves two water concessionaires, SYABAS and PNSB.

He said the move is in accordance with the Selangor Water Structuring Master Agreement dated September 12 which was signed between the Selangor government, the Federal Government and Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB).

“With the purchase of these shares, the bulk of the operations and water assets will be returned to the people, allowing Air Selangor to take over and restructure the operations of SYABAS and PNSB.

“The main focus will be given to the effort to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) which is a loss to the people and to ensure adequate water supply on an on-going basis for the people of Selangor.

“The state government also intends to increase the efficiency of water services to be more people friendly and responsive to the consumers across Selangor, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” he said in a statement today.

Mohamed Azmin said that the state government will also finalise the acquisition of two other concessionaires, ABASS and SPLASH.

He said that his administration will ensure that the effort provides the best value to the people although some major matters such as cost and the acquisition terms of the four water concessionaires have been previously decided.

“This includes ensuring the construction of the Langat 2 project is good in terms of capacity, engineering costs and construction costs assessed objectively by representatives of the state government so there is no element of wastage.

“I believe with the practice of openness and transparency emphasised by the new administration, the state government will be able to reach an agreement with all parties involved to complete the water structuring in the near future,” he said.

NS