Selangor Gerakan today urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli over alleged "conflict of interest" in the water industry restructuring exercise.

State Gerakan chief David Ang said he suspected Rafizi was involved in the negotiations, resulting in a conflict of interest.

Ang said the RM2.7 billion approved for the takeover of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (Splash) was 11 times the offer made by former Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

"In August 2014, Rafizi in his blog said the 'Kajang Move' was because Khalid had erred in the Splash deal.

"He also spoke about a meeting between Khalid and PKR, prompting us to suspect conflict of interest among politicians who were involved in the negotiations between the state government and a private firm.

"To pay a private firm 11 times more does not make sense, when you can pay 11 times less. As such, we urge the MACC to investigate if there was any abuse of power," he added.

Rafizi: I left water panel

Ang said Rafizi should instead focus on this matter before making comments on the management of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara).

Splash, which is 40 percent-owned by Gamuda Bhd, is the only water concessionaire still privately-held in Selangor.

The state took over Syarikat Air Selangor (Syabas) and Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd in 2015, in a bid to turn the water industry into a public asset.

Meanwhile, Rafizi refuted Ang's claims by stating that he ceased involvement with the Pakatan Rakyat water panel following Khalid's removal as menteri besar.

"When Azmin took over, my seat as Pakatan Harapan representative in the water panel was taken away by William Leong in under four hours.

"I was not involved whatsoever. I was not in (the subsequent) meetings, I was not privy to any discussion or any paper since then," he said.

The water panel served as body which advised the Selangor government on its attempts to takeover water assets in the state before handing it over to the federal government as required under the Water Services Industry Act 2006.

Gerakan late to the party

Rafizi said he had beaten Ang to the punch a long time ago by publicly highlighting how there was a big discrepancy between what the Selangor was offering to Splash, compared with offers to Syarikat Air Selangor (Syabas) and Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd.

Rafizi pointed out that the two other concessionaires were given generous offers despite being in less than desirable fiscal state, while Splash which was worth about RM2 billion was only offered ten percent of its total value.

"My concern then was that when you offer too low to buy Splash, it maybe good for the public, at least for the political announcement. But the public may end up paying more if we are sued in court and then we lost," he said.

But Rafizi explained that he was no longer privy to what comes next after Azmin took over the state and helmed the water take over discussion, though he said that he will cooperate with any MACC investigation.

"I am more than willing to go to MACC and give my statement and cooperate and will give everything," he said.

Rafizi told Gerakan to go study Splash's financial books if they cannot see why he thinks they should be paid more for their water assets.