VS
SHAH ALAM, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said Tuesday that the Federal government should revoke the concession given to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), claiming the company had breached the concession agreement.
Speaking to reporters here Tuesday, he said the officer-in-charge of water regulatory services in the state, Datuk Nordin Sulaiman, who is also the state economic planning unit director, had officially written to the Federal government on this and that the state government was awaiting a reply.
He claimed that the company (Syabas) had breached the concession agreement when it collected funds from consumers who opted to forego the subsidy provided by the state government for the first 20 cubic metres of water used each month, for a charitable fund (Tabung Budi).
Asked what the state government would do if the Federal government did not accede to the request (revoke Syabas' concession), Abdul Khalid said:"We will go to court."
He also said that the Syabas had filed suits against him and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua over statements they made concerning Tabung Budi.
"However, this suit will not make us change our stand. Syabas has not right to collect the money (subsidy given by the state government) for Tabung Budi," he said.
Pua, who was also present, said the suits were filed at the Kuala Lumpur Civil High Court on Monday.
Abdul Khalid further contended that water concession agreements with four companies - Syabas, Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, Konsortium ABBAS Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SPLASH)- should be ended so that the water industry in Selangor could be taken over by the state government.
On the reluctance of the four to terminate the concessions because the state government's offer the buy over the companies not being attractive enough, he said they could bring the matter up for arbitration.
He said the Selangor government had asked the Federal government to decide on the matter as under the Water Services Industry Act 2006, the Federal government reserved sole rights to determine the takeover price of water assets, which when decided cannot be challenged in a court of law.
He added that the state government hoped that the issue could be resolved by the end of this month.
On another matter, when asked when new state secretary Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi would take his oath of secrecy before him, Abdul Khalid declined to comment.
On Feb 9, the menteri besar had said that Mohd Khusrin would be allowed to take the oath only after the state government had re-formatted state executive council meetings, which are scheduled for this week.
-- BERNAMA