KUALA LUMPUR: Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has shot down former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s allegations of a RM2.7 billion payout to take over Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings (Splash).
Azmin, who is former Selangor Menteri Besar, said negotiations were still ongoing between the state government and the water concessionaire in order to resolve the state’s long delayed water industry restructuring efforts.
He said, when he was Selangor MB, the negotiation process had been extended to July 4.
“I was told that it has been extended for another month since then with Cabinet’s approval,” Azmin told reporters at Parliament on Thursday.
He said the current MB Amirudin Shari had sought for the one-month extension from the Federal government.
Azmin was asked to comment on Najib’s claim on Wednesday that the Selangor government will purchase Splash for a whopping RM2.7 billion.
Najib also claimed that a “Tan Sri,” who has a 30 per cent stake in Splash, will benefit handsomely from the purchase. The Tan Sri, claimed Najib, is a crony of a top Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader and co-founder of a political party, which he did not name.
Meanwhile, Azmin said the Selangor state government had submitted an independent valuation report on the purchase to the previous Federal government two years ago.
"The previous government also appointed an independent valuer, but the report was not shared with the Selangor government."
Azmin expressed hope that with PH now in power, the federal government's valuation report will be shared with the state.
"To me, the price negotiated must be reasonable and fair to the rakyat. These are some of the pre-conditions and this include not having high tariffs affecting consumers," he said, reiterating that the outcome should not burden the people.
Amirudin, after being sworn in as MB, had pledged to seek immediate solutions to issues surrounding the water industry restructuring in the state.
Selangor has been plagued by frequent water service disruptions. The most recent water crisis occurred in March this year due to an explosion which occurred at the Sungai Selangor Phase 3 (SSP3) Water Treatment Plant.
The incident left five people injured. It also left some 2.5 million residents in the Klang Valley without water for almost a week as maintenance works were carried out.
The former Barisan Nasional federal administration had given the Selangor government until July this year to resolve the impasse over the Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) stake acquisition.
It was reported that if both parties failed to come to an agreement over the deal, Section 114 of the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA) 2006 will be invoked.
Former Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili had said the Selangor-Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) deal alone delayed the restructuring exercise in the state.