Selangor Mentri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim should extract as much savings as possible in the buy back of the state's four water concessionaires, since it now holds the upper hand.

                       

Yesterday Khalid said he was chopping off RM2 billion off Selangor’s takeover offer and offered the companies RM7.65 billion for their assets.

However, in a joint statement, Pakatan MPs Rafizi Ramli ( right ), Tony Pua and Dzulkefly Ahmad said this could be lowered even more. They estimated a fair price was anywhere between RM6.3 to RM7.6 billion.

 

They said that Selangor residents have suffered much in the last five years as the water companies had held these assets hostage.

Now that the federal government has agreed to step in and force the sale, the companies must not get away with unreasonable profits.

 

"The BN federal government must not at any point compensate these concessionaires for ‘loss of future profits’ which is not provided for anywhere in the privatisation agreements.

 

"In fact, the BN government must not forget that the lower the cost of acquisition, the lower the water tariffs will be for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, benefitting a population of 7.3 million people," the MPs said.

 

They lauded the federal government for invoking Clause 114 and 191 of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA) as "historic."

 

The move was agreed under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Khalid and Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Maximus Ongkili ( right ).

 

In exchange, Selangor government would help expedite the federal-backed Langat 2 water treatment plant.

 

"While the agreement to use the above clauses may have come five years late, causing much anxiety and suffering to the Selangor residents, it is better late than never.

 

"In fact, this is the only way to expedite the restructuring of the industry as the privatised water companies were only interested in maximising profits, as shown by rejecting five offers made in good faith by the state government," they said.

 

They added that opposition MPs have been calling for federal intervention since February 2009.

 

Khalid had signed the MOU with Putrajaya on Feb 26, and gave all four Selangor water concessionaires a deadline of March 10 to accept the offer of RM9.65 billion, which had stood unchanged for over a year.

 

When the deadline expired, three companies - Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings - rejected the offer.

 

The only one to accept it was the state government's subsidiary, Kumpulan Abass.

 

Khalid then said yesterday that the companies' water assets would now be forcefully bought over.