Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is mulling extending his state’s free water programme to the people of KL and Putrajaya as well … as soon as the Selangor state government’s water restructiring exercise is completed.
Currently, 5.2 million residents in Selangor enjoy the first 20 cubic meters of their monthly water supply for free, courtesy of Khalid’s administration. The policy has been in place since June 2008, after Pakatan Rakyat wrested the state from Barisan Nasional in the 12th General Elections.
Khalid said it was only fair to extend the programme to KL and Putrajaya residents, as these areas received their water from the same source: Syarikat Bekalan Air Selngor (Syabas).
“It is just a suggestion from me for now. I will have to see whether the people of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya are happy with it. It is up to them,” he told the press today after attending the “Malaysian Power & Water Summit 2014”.
The free water policy for Selangor is funded by Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) as part of the state’s move to share its revenue with the people.
Khalid said Syabas, along with other concessionaires, will be absorbed into a subsidiary of KDEB in the restructuring, granting the state government control of water distribution to the 2.1 million consumers in the two cities.
He said discussions between the state and federal governments, and the concessionaires are in their final stages and will be wrapped up within two weeks.
Khalid said they are mainly finalising the paperwork and it is now up to the concessionaires to accept the state’s offer of RM9.65 billion to take over water assets, failing which the restructuring will proceed regardless.
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Source: The Sun Daily
