The war of words continues to flow as Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and his critics rain blows on each other, with PJ Utara MP Tony Pua this morning telling the Selangor menteri besar not to simply blame away the recent water cuts.

Yesterday Khalid returned Pua's earlier volley purportedly saying the latter needed to be "taught" on the state's water industry, according to a report in The Star .

Khalid ( left ) explained the cuts were not the state's miscalculation but the recalcitrance of concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas).

"Surely, a responsible and caring Pakatan Rakyat state government should do much more than just 'blame Syabas' - even if they are indeed the rightful party to be blamed," said Pua in a statement today.

Pua admitted he agreed with Khalid that Syabas was the source of the state's inconvenient surprise dry taps, but chided the MB for not being better prepared for such alleged "sabotage … intentionally or otherwise".

"Some residents might wonder as to why the state government was so quick to offer 'guaranteed' water supply when the state is fully aware that Syabas has refused to cooperate or even attend state organised meetings.

 

"More importantly however, even if the state government is unable to fulfill the 'guarantee', the question is, what can the state government do to provide immediate assistance and relief to the victims of serious water disruptions?  

"Should we not have some empathy and put in place a Plan B for these long suffering water disruption victims?" asked the DAP Selangor chairperson.

Pua's ( right ) series of attacks follow earlier DAP critics former exco Ronnie Liu, who berated Khalid for not spending more on solution the exco had proposed in the last term, and Klang MP Charles Santiago, who has irked Khalid about the possible health hazards of using mining pool water.

Pua added the state government cannot sit back and do nothing while awaiting a takeover of the state's water infrastructure, and repeated his call for a setting up of a high-level water task force involving elected representatives.

"The rakyat does not want to see quibbling Pakatan Rakyat leaders. 

"They want to see a pro-active Pakatan Rakyat government who will go out of its way to share the rakyat’s burden and ease the pain of their plight," he said.

Papers stir up 'lessons for Pua'

Pua appeared particularly irked with the statement attributed to Khalid that the Petaling Jaya Utara MP and his DAP colleague Liu needed lessons from the State Economic Planning Department (Upen) or the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas).

"Perhaps instead of arranging a lesson for me on 'what the state has done' and 'why Syabas is to blame', it might be more important for the menteri besar and the state officials should pay a visit to the families queueing up with pails to draw water from the supply tanks," said Pua.

According to the report in The Star , Khalid was quoted saying, "I am shocked that Liu, despite being an exco (member) for one term, does not know of the water restructuring exercise and the work the state has been doing to ensure continuous supply water for the people.

"Anyway, I am sure Upen and Luas will be glad to teach Tony Pua and Ronnie Liu on what the state has done and why Syabas is to be blamed."

Khalid however appears to have been misquoted, according to Malaysiakini 's review of the recording of the event reported yesterday .

According to the transcripts, the conversation was as follows:

Reporter: Last question Tan Sri, (on) Ronnie Liu's comment saying that the state should be held responsible on this water issue.

Khalid: Well, he should know, he was part of the exco. But if he does not understand since he is already a few years after (the) exco, I think our team both from Upen and also from Luas will be very glad to brief any of these people about our programme.

The MB's response was subsequently played up by the Chinese press, that were not present at the event at Pulau Indah, Port Klang yesterday afternoon.