PETALING JAYA, 19 JAN: Although his salary is RM425,000 a month, the Chief Executive Officer of the Selangor Water Supply Company (Syabas – Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) Tan Seri Rozali Ismail failed to address the issue of water disruptions recently.
This is following Syabas media statement on January 9 that the water supply disruptions in Ampang, Cheras and Gombak can only be restored on the Chinese New Year on February 10.
However, when the State Government intervened by monitoring reparation works, the water disruptions can be restored on January 15 – four weeks ahead of Rozali’s approximation.
According to Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, this proves that Rozali failed in managing the water supply in Selangor properly.
“I told Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give the Selangor water management rights to the State Government.
“(Because) we are able to manage water better and prioritise the consumers interests in comparison to Syabas,” said Abdul Khalid in front of over a thousand attendees at the Elections Fund Raising Dinner at a restaurant here last night.
Instead, according to Abdul Khalid, Najib refused to hand over the water management rights to the State Government because he prioritises the interests of cronies against the interests of the people of Selangor.
Abdul Khalid also condemned the actions of Syabas where previously they sued the State Government of not allowing them to increase water tariffs in Selangor.
One December 29, about 500,000 residents around Kuala Lumpur, Gombak and Ampang experienced water supply disruptions for more than two weeks due to pump failures at a pump house in Wangsa Maju.
Syabas was accused of negligence because all five pumps, including two reserve pumps kept for replacement during emergencies, broke down.
On January 8, it was reported that Rozali said that the supply disruptions in the three places can only be resolved on the Chinese New Year.
A day after that, the Selangor Government said that it would work to resolve the problem in a week.
On January 15, nearly all consumers in affected areas received water supply.