PETALING JAYA, 18 FEB: The excessive profit of up to 30 percent earned by the Selangor Water Supply Company (Syabas – Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd) in the water industry is unfair because it burdens the people.
Therefore, the State Government decides to take over operations from Syabas to ensure that consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya can enjoy efficient water supply at a reasonable price.
According to Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today, the State Government has also disallowed an increase in water tariffs as agreed by the previous Umno-BN administration when they governed the state.
“…Umno-BN is willing to take advantage of the water resource that supply to the needs of the people,” said Abdul Khalid when speaking at the Selangor State Chinese New Year Open House last night.
Selangorkini Newspaper previously reported that the privatisation agreement in 2004 gave way to Syabas to increase the water tariffs by 37 percent in 2009 and 25 percent in 2012
However, the Selangor Government put a halt to the increase in tariff because Syabas did not meet the terms of the agreement to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) which is water lost due to being stolen or from leakages, to 19.98 percent.
The current NRW rate under Syabas is 33 percent. It is equivalent to Syabas only being able to distribute 63 units out of 100 units of treated water.
If the State Government permits the increase in water tariffs as requested by Syabas, consumers will have to pay RM18.80 for 20 cubic metres of water per month.
Through the free water scheme initiated by the State Government, consumers in Selangor so not have to pay anything for 20 cubic metres of water.
In the same agreement, Syabas was also a raise of 20 percent in 2015 and 10 percent more in 2018 which will cause the people of Selangor to pay RM3.15 for each cubic metre of water in 2018.
Earlier at the Selangor State Chinese New Year Open House this afternoon, Abdul Khalid handed contributions to eight Chinese temples around Selangor.
Among the temples that received contributions from the State Government include Jenjarum Believers Association, Ampang Temple and Hulu Langat.
The open house was attended by nearly 8,000 attendees. Abdul Khalid also took the opportunity to present Ang Pow to children who were present.
Apart from Abdul Khalid, also enlivening the open house was Selangor Economic Advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, state Executive Councillors and Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Assemblymen.