Khalid announces free household water and lopsided water deal - NST

By : V. Shankar Ganesh

SHAH ALAM, Mon:

In his first Press conference as Selangor Mentri Besar today, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim made two key announcements: the first 20 cubic metres of water is free to all Selangor households from April, and the eve of polling day water treatment plant deal between Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Selangor Government is lopsided to the concessionaire’s advantage.

The free water concession would be discussed first by the Exco before it could be implemented but it was to fulfill a PKR election campaign promise, he said. “This could be achieved if cost was lowered so that revenue was channeled back to consumers,” he said. “To achieve this, review of all water agreements are expected.”

Khalid said the state legal adviser had been told to write to the company to declassify documents as his calculations showed that profits derived from water revenue was more to their advantage. “There is imbalance in the revenue given to the State and the people. It can only enrich the concessionaire” he told a Press conference at his official residence here for the first time.

Khalid said he had only seen the agreement at a glance and that he had to study it further.
The water deal was for Puncak Niaga to operate, manage and maintain the raw water intake and treatment plant situated on land beside a canal near Sungai Sireh, Tanjung Karang in Kuala Selangor.

While the deal was signed on March 7, the actual contract itself took effect on April 1, 2007 and was concluded pursuant to Clause 3(a) (vi) of the Concession Agreement dated Dec 15, 2004, between the Federal government, the state government and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), for a concession period of twenty-seven (27) years, commencing on April 1, 2007 and expiring on April 30, 2034.

[From http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Frontpage/20080317164615/Article/index_html]