KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Putrajaya said today it was Selangor’s fault that last year’s water restructuring agreement has now fallen through, claiming the state government had delayed finalising the deal.
Federal Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili denied the federal government had contravened the terms of the master agreement plan and instead, accused Selangor of failing to adhere to several condition precedents of the deal.
He said the state government had failed to resolve the issue of the transfer of assets belonging to state water concessionaires to Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB), which was meant to be a repayment to PAAB’s takeover of the water companies’ liabilities amounting to RM7.65 billion.
Ongkili also said the Selangor government, through its special purpose vehicle Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, had not listed down all of its assets to the federal government.
“Seeing as the Selangor government needed time to resolve these issues, parties involved in the master agreement had agreed to extend the cut-off date for the fulfillment of the condition precedents three times.
“Issue was supposed to be resolved on November 11 last year but Selangor has failed to resolve it until March 9 this year,” Ongkili told Parliament during question time.
“The state government should carry on the good work of the previous mentri besar and the previous state executive council.
“If not we leave it to the people lf Selangor to decide. You will suffer because you won’t have enough water,” he added.
More to come
