The Selangor government is not against the proposed Pahang-Selangor water transfer project, said Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

He said deputy premier Muhyiddin Yassin had missed the point when claiming the state is not cooperating with the federal government on the inter-state water transfer project.

“The Selangor government is not blocking the Pahang-Selangor water transfer. What we hope for is that it is done (in such a way that) no private company gets excess profits by being the contractor,” he told a press conference at the state assembly building.

save tian chua dinner 200610 khalid ibrahim 02 Khalid ( left ) also brushed aside Muhyiddin’s claim that the state government will go bankrupt if it continues to provide free water throughout the state.

He said the state’s financial reserves stood at RM1.3 billion last year and went up to RM1.5 billion at the end of June this year, after deducting the costs of providing free water.

“Our budget will be ... balanced, unlike the federal government which is working off a deficit budget,” he said.

“If that’s what they call ‘going bankrupt,’ then I don’t know how the federal government views us... I guess we are considered nothing.”

He also replied Muhyiddin’s reported taunt that Khalid has not been effective in managing the state’s water supply.

“I would like to state that, even though I am not good enough, the price of water in Selangor is still cheaper than in Johor (where Muhyiddin was once menteri besar),” he quipped.

“Johor, which the DPM has led in the past, is among the states that charges the highest for water in Malaysia.”

Protecting Umno interests

Khalid pointed out that the problems in Selangor’s water industry are a direct result of privatisation by the previous BN-led administration, which appointed companies that did not have the efficiency or financial capacity to sustain their operations.

NONE He said Muhyiddin ( right ) seems to be speaking on behalf of Umno to “protect” Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Rozali Ismail.

“We have reason to believe that Puncak has provided a substantial amount of financing to Umno and its group of supporters,” he added.

“It looks like it is more important for them (BN) to take care of their cronies instead of providing cheaper and more efficient water supply to the people.”