CYBERJAYA, March 16 —  The National Water Services Commission Malaysia (SPAN) has no authority to intervene in the acquisition of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (SPLASH) to complete the Selangor water service restructuring exercise.

Its chairman Datuk Liang Teck Meng told a news conference here today that the responsibility falls solely on the Selangor government.

He hoped it would be finalised soon, so SPAN can help manage the water supply industry in Selangor more effectively.

“Air Selangor is licensed by SPAN under Act 655 of the Water Services Industry Act and it was supposed to acquire all four companies before obtaining an individual license from us to continue operating in the state.

“At the moment, the federal government has no power nor intention to meddle in deciding a fair value to be offered to SPLASH, where the offer should be made based on the ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ principle.

“Until the acquisition is made and the take-over is finalised, only state government has the power and rights to take any actions against SPLASH,” he told reporters at the SPAN headquarters here.

Under the restructuring exercise, Air Selangor had acquired Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SYABAS), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (ABASS) and was in the midst of taking over the last water concessionaire in the state, which is SPLASH.

Liang said SPAN will only come into the picture as the regulatory body when Air Selangor has succeeded in taking over all four companies.

“When transfer of asset is needed, Air Selangor will have to propose a business plan to SPAN to describe how they plan to manage the state’s water supply.

“Then we will see if the key performance index is met, according to said business plan.

“If Air Selangor fails to adhere to the plan, SPAN may be prompted to suspend its operating license. That is how the whole thing works,” he said.

Liang said throughout the whole restructuring period which started four years ago, SPAN has extended the operational timeframe for water treatment plants under SPLASH three times.

“The final date for extension that we have now is July 8 this year. Hopefully the exercise will be completed by then,” he said.

Liang said the states that have finalised their restructuring exercises to date included Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perlis, Penang, Perak and Kelantan.