SHAH ALAM, March 17 — Putrajaya had expressed its willingness to return to resume discussion over its water operations agreement with Selangor, the state’s Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said today.

But the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman said negotiations will only resume if the federal government  agrees to observe terms set in the master agreement between the two.

“I can confirm that I have received an official letter from the minister involved a few days back and I see that the federal government has expressed their willingness to return to the negotiating table to talk.

“And in the letter they made it clear that they were willing to adhere to the master agreement. If this is observed, then we are willing to resume negotiations,” Azmin told reporters after attending an official function here.

The MB added that he was forced to cancel the deal after Putrajaya breached the master agreement.

Azmin told reporters last week that the deal was off after Putrajaya demanded Selangor hand over the land across which 26,000 kilometres of pipes belonging to state water concessionaires are laid.

Prior to signing the master agreement, Azmin said representatives from both Selangor and the federal government had gone through the assets list consisting of pipes, water treatment plants, reservoirs and pump stations with a total value of RM14.9 billion.

There was no mention of land in the assets list, he added.

On March 9, Selangor revoked its controversial water agreement with Putrajaya signed in September last year, following the federal government’s alleged failure to comply with pre-conditions set out by the state government.

Azmin had said the master agreement signed by his predecessor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim could not be carried out as the federal government had already been granted enough time to adhere to Selangor’s conditions.

The first-term mentri besar had previously demanded that Putrajaya publicly disclose the details of the water agreement as part of his pledge for accountability to Selangor voters.

He had said that a full disclosure of the agreement signed by his predecessor and Putrajaya was necessary to justify the possible impact of the deal on consumers.

Last year, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said that his ministry would not disclose the contents of the water deal, following legal advice from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The water deal was among the reasons cited for Khalid’s removal as MB. Azmin previously said he would review the agreement after he took over as the state’s chief executive.

Under the water agreement, Selangor was meant to infuse a new special purpose vehicle — Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd —  with RM14.92 billion in assets to manage the water-restructuring exercise with Putrajaya.

The federal government was also to provide RM2 billion to help offset the state’s cost of taking over the four concessionaires — Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.

In return, Selangor would provide all necessary approvals for the construction of the Langat 2 water treatment plant that it had previously resisted.