Smooth Flow After Two Year Hiccup

The Sun / May 19, 2010

PETALING JAYA: The water restructuring exercise in Selangor is nearing the end after almost two years of negotiations and is expected to be wrapped up by June.

Selangor Water Review Panel member Dr. Dzulkifli Ahmad said: “We are almost there, in the final lap and all I can say is that it is positive and we are hopeful it will be resolved, and over and done with.”

Negotiations had dragged on for two years, so the panel is hopeful it will be a win-win situation for all parties, said Dzulkifli, who is also PAS MP for Kuala Selangor.

The details are still hazy and state officials are tight lipped until negotiations are completed.

In March, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid had said the pricing offer must be acceptable to the parties concerned.

At that time, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) - a 40% owned unit of Gamuda Bhd – made a bid to take over the state’s water assets for RM10.75billion.

Splash, a concessionaire in the state, topped the last offer made by the Selangor government last July by RM1.53 billion.

Selangor entered into the negotiations in 2009 to take over the water assets for four concessionaires operating in the state.

Plans to keep water tariffs to a minimum are part of the deal, in view of scheduled tariff hikes, which were as high as 37% in the present concession agreement.

Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), which is 70% owned by Puncak Niaga, had asked for a tariff hike by January 2009.

This precedes hikes of between 25% and 37% between 2015 and 2030, going by the agreement.

Also brought to the fore during negotiations were Syabas’ “breaches” of the concession terms.