Fifteen copies of tender documents for the multi-billion ringgit Langat 2 water treatment plant project were sold today.

This was despite the federal government-owned Water Assets Management Company (PAAB) admitting the possibility that the project may not get the approval of the Selangor government.

The tender documents, costing RM10,000 each, were sold to the potential bidders during a briefing held by PAAB this morning, its chief executive officer Ahmad Faizal Abdul Rahman said.

The briefing was attended by 65 companies that were interested in bidding for the project.

Speaking to media after the briefing, Ahmad Faizal said PAAB would proceed with the tender process as instructed by the federal government.

"The only legal issue we can foresee is (difficulty in getting) a development order, but this issue will only surface when contractors want to access the project site in 10 months' time.

"Hopefully, we will resolve this issue by then," he said.

selangor mb khalid ibrahim free water pc 110608 02 Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim warned yesterday that his administration would exercise its legal right to intervene in Putrajaya's attempts to construct the Langat 2 water treatment plant without the state's approval.

Khalid said only the state's agents would be allowed to enter the project site and that the project must have the approval of the local authorities.

However, he also reiterated that the state could give its consent if the Langat 2 project was "combined" with the restructuring of the water industry in Selangor.

‘We just follow government directives'

Echoing this, Ahmad Faizal said the Selangor government did not oppose the project, but it only wanted to restructure the water industry in the state before considering a new water treatment plant.

"So now, the problem is whether the restructuring of the Selangor water industry can be done before the project starts in about 10 months' time," he said.

azlan However, he said, the attorney-general's briefing to PAAB was that there were laws to enable the federal government to proceed with the project without the approval of the state authority.

"We are only the implementation agency for this project, so when the federal government asks us to proceed, we just proceed,

"Now that the federal government has asked us to proceed with the tender, we just follow the instructions and we hope the issue can be resolved within the next 10 months,

"And what if we cannot resolve the issue? For us, we have stated in the tender document that 'we reserve the right not to award' the project.

"So, if we do not get the confirmation to proceed, we will wait for further instructions from the federal and state governments," Ahmad Faizal added.

The Langat 2 project is estimated to cost RM8.7 billion and will be used to treat water channelled from Pahang through a 45km tunnel.

Selangor is trying to wrest control of Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) in order to restructure the company before handing it over to the federal government.

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