Those involved in the management of high-rise apartments in Selangor are to blame for residents in a number of low-cost flats not enjoying the state's free 20 cubic metres of water a month, says Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

While Selangor does not deny the right of the residents to take legal action on the matter, the government believes they might "have been cheated, were given false information or were not getting sufficient details about the tariff rebate exercise", Khalid said in a statement yesterday.

NONE He said the state was working to ensure that residents of low-cost apartments are not victimised by water concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), which has been accused of making it difficult for them to switch from bulk water meters to individual meters in order to enjoy free water.

"When the programme was launched in June 2008, more than one million residents in the state who use individual meters were given free water every month, resulting in the state spending more than RM400 million on this scheme.

"Based on a report from the Selangor Property and Housing Board, 232 blocks of flats and condominiums, or 64,715 units, are still using bulk water meters.

"However, of that number, 92 percent or 214 blocks, making up 54,049 low-cost units, have received free water under the Free Water Rebate Scheme (Safwa).

"The remaining 18 blocks, involving 6,666 units, failed to implement the rebate scheme for free water because their building managements lack staff," Khalid said.

Legal suit against state gov't

Over 700 low-cost flat dwellers in Selangor have resorted to filing legal action against the Pakatan Rakyat government of Selangor and Syabas over the free water issue.

Khalid said between July 2010 and July 2012, more than RM6 million has been spent on providing free water to residents of low-cost flats under the Safwa scheme.

Also, residents of low-cost flats not enjoying the rebate can now go directly to the building commissioner units in their local councils to seek their rebates from Syabas.

Records from the building commissioner units, local councils and Syabas indicated that 108 blocks of high-rise residential buildings involving 29,318 units have switched to individual meters.

Since May 2007, the state government has required all flat and condo unit owners to migrate to individual meters.