The ongoing, and very public spat between the federal government and private companies in Selangor has proved critics right about the lack of accountability in the privatisation of water management and supply.

It has also raised questions over the standard operating procedure in cases of excessive contamination of raw water at the intake point.

Last week, many members of the public had complained about smelly tap water in parts of the Klang Valley.

The government traced this, among other causes, to seepage from a storage pond at the Bukit Tagar landfill, which began operations last April. It overflowed into Sungai Selangor following heavy rains on Feb 26.

The Department of Environment is currently checking on possible violations of the environmental impact assessment report which was approved in 2004.

But the Coalition Against Water Privatisation has been quick to note that adequate measures were not taken to prevent the smelly water from reaching consumers.

"Why was the treatment plant not shut down immediately regardless of whether or not there was excessive ammonia or high levels of discharges from pig and dairy farms, oxidation ponds and palm oil mills?" asked co-ordinator Charles Santiago.

"Why was the existing emergency plan not activated given the excessive contamination? Did a loss of revenue play a part in the decision not to close the treatment plant?"

'Not our problem'

The Malay Mail today reported that Syarikat Bekalan Air Sdn Bhd (Syabas) had dismissed Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Khalid's remarks that the firm had been irresponsible for allowing smelly water into the supply network.

Syabas executive chairperson Rozali Ismail ticked off Azmi for not asking for clarification before making comments that had "caused confusion and created a negative impact on our reputation".

Syabas is Selangor's sole provider of treated water while Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd operate and maintain treatment plants in Selangor.

Santiago said the smelly water incident has also exposed administrative loopholes and resulted in conflicting statements by the various agencies.

"Why was there no co-ordination between the federal and state governments including its various offices and (water concessionaires) in uncovering the root case of the pollution?" he asked in a statement.

He said there was "sharp contradiction" between the explanations given by Syabas, and the federal and state governments.

"Five separate statements were made within three days, and three of them came from various offices of the Selangor government, as well as Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.

"In any case, why has the Jabatan Kawal Selia Air Selangor, the regulator for Syabas' concession, not investigating this matter yet? The (department's) silence is deafening."

"Whose responsibility is it?" he asked, referring to Rozali's statement that water quality was outside Syabas' jurisdiction.

"While it may be the case that Syabas is not responsible for 'unpolluting' the river, surely it is the concessionaire's responsibility to ensure that the water it treats is safe for human consumption.

"If Syabas had been unable to treat the water due to high levels of contamination, one would think that the prudent course of action (would have been) to shut down the treatment plant. (Has) Syabas (been) negligent?"

Absence of provisions

He said the companies bear the responsibility of treating raw water for safe consumption no matter how polluted it is, and thus should not shift the blame to others.

Santiago attributed the water contamination to large-scale development upstream of the intake and within the catchment areas and alleged negligence of the state government and the concessionaires.

The coalition also noted the absence of provisions in the Water Services Industry and the National Water Services Commission bills which casts the management of catchment areas and upstream development under a single federal regulator.

The main concern with the water bills is fears that it will facilitate backdoor privatisation, will be tabled in Parliament next week.

The coalition backed by 26 civil society partner organisations have submitted their input to the Energy, Water and Communications ministry following a public consultation last month.