KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should use his influence to declassify Selangor’s water concession agreements to allow a clear reading of the matter, a DAP assemblyman told the Cabinet member who earlier waded into the long-running controversy.

Accusing the youth and sports minister of seeking political mileage in his criticism of Selangor’s handling of its so-called water crisis, Damansara Utama representative Yeo Bee Yin said Khairy could demonstrate his sincerity by pushing to remove the classification of water concession agreements from under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

“Only with full disclosure of information that the public can judge for themselves whether it is logical for the state government to stop water tariff to be raised by a 37 per cent in 2009, 25 per cent in 2012 and 15 per cent in 2015 since Syabas cannot reduce its non-revenue water (NRW) as required by the contract.

“The public can also judge whether the state government compensation offer to the water concessionaires for the takeover is fair according to the clauses in the contract,” she said in a statement today.

Yeo also pressed Khairy to remove the same veil of secrecy placed over the national audit report on Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), which she alleged would allow the public to see if taxpayers’ funds were being used “for non-water related expenses such as luxury cars, offices and big fat pay for the non-performers.”

Last month, Khairy penned an essay in which he laid the blame for Selangor’s months-long water crisis on the Pakatan Rakyat administration’s mishandling that he also said forced the intervention of the federal government.

Putrajaya previously said it may invoke Section 114 of the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA) 2006 to forcibly acquire Selangor’s water concessionaires to facilitate the state’s restructuring of the utility.

But Khairy alleged that Selangor could “frustrate” the federal government’s efforts by refusing approval on four key items, including water tariffs.

This prompted a rebuttal from DAP MP Tony Pua this week, in which he lashed out Khairy for trying to whitewash the Barisan Nasional federal government's role in deepening the water crisis by bailing out the debt-ridden private companies that had failed to maintain and repair their distribution system, leading to leakages of the precious liquid that has sharply affected consumers statewide amid a prolonged dry spell.

A five-year impasse between Putrajaya and Selangor had appeared resolved when the two unexpectedly signed a memorandum of understanding in February for the state to take over the four water concessionaires — Syabas, Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd (ABBAS) and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash).

But only the state-owned ABBAS accepted the offer by the time it had expired on March 21.

This had prompted Putrajaya to say it will invoke the WASIA to force the remaining firms to accept the takeover and at a lower valuation that the previous RM9.65 billion.

It has yet to do so, however, leading Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to say that the forced takeovers may now occur.