PUTRAJAYA, Feb 14 – Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin has put the record straight on capital expenditure (Capex) that the Selangor Government has been denying Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) is not asking for money from the state, but merely seeking approval for it to source funds to run its operations.
He said, under the concession agreement signed between the state and the water distributor, the much-needed Capex was supposed to be available through a series of funds from commercial banks and other financial institutions.
“You cannot have a water industry that does not invest in Capex. So, with Capex not being available, Syabas will have their hands tied. They will not be able to proceed with the upgrading, with the necessary repairs that are clearly provided for, in the concession agreement,” he told Bernama at his office here.
Chin said his ministry realised that everyone would suffer if the situation prolonged and without Capex, facilities like water pumps were being overworked over a long period of time and they would just give way, like what happened last month at the Syabas Wangsa Maju pumping station that resulted in at least half a million people not getting their regular supply.
“So, it is vital that as long as you want to keep the water industry at a healthy stage, Capex must be available. And, all the Selangor Government has to do is to allow Syabas to proceed with Capex. Source the funds, utilise them but because of Selangor’s attitude, now Syabas not only does not have the funds but has to sue for those funds. That is very unfortunate,” he added.
And he asked: “So, at the end of the day, what do you expect this ministry to do, what would the federal government want to do? To see this sort of thing prolong and allow this situation to get from bad to worse?”
This was the very rationale for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to announce an allocation of RM120 million to be used for upgrading of facilities to avoid a Wangsu Maju-like situation. But, he said, critics like DAP MP Tony Pua instead, chose to see this much-needed injection of funds as a “bailout”. Chin had last week described Pua’s accusation as “nonsense”.
“We are now trying to enable Syabas, for lack of better words, to keep the taps running, and I don’t see how that can be a bailout when you have a dire situation like this.
“If there is no source of funds available, then you might have the whole system breaking down. And what good would that be to anyone, you have a system breaking down? Malaysia would be the laughing stock of the world. A country that
is so well developed that it is today, suddenly does not have water,” Chin said.
The minister said, as far as Syabas was concerned, it did the right thing. It applied to the National Water Management Commission (Span), the country’s water industry regulator, which is also the administrator of the concession agreement.
“And, that gives Span the power to say yes or no. You have to invest here, you have to invest there and the correct amount of investment.
“And, all this Capex we talked about, that is now covered by the RM120 million that was approved by the federal government, has been approved by Span,” he said.
Chin said it was logical that if Span approved the expenditure, such expenditure was needed. And, because they were needed to improve the water industry, it was no way a bailout.
“So, at the end of the day, we have to consider this, the regulator which is Span, has seen it fit and proper to have this expenditure to ensure water supply is there, and not disrupted as happened during the Wangsa Maju incident,” he said.
BERNAMA
