KAJANG, 7 Mar: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have finally unanimously agreed and gave their blessings to the water Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the State Government and the Federal Government.

The PKR Deputy President, Mohamed Azmin Ali, said that the agreement was made after a special water MoU briefing, personally conducted by the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, yesterday.

He said that the decision was also taken because the main thing is to guarantee that the people are not burdened with unreasonable water tariffs in the future.

“We want the water industry to be standardised as it has been managed inconsistently and separately,” he said.

He said this in front of about 200 attendees at the launch of the PR Operations Room here at the District of Sungai Kantan last night.

Earlier, he also attended a discussion with Abdul Khalid and other PR leaders; the PKR de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; the PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and the DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang.

Last week, the water restructuring MoU was signed between the Selangor Government and the Federal Government, allowing for the acquisition of four water concessionaires which will receive a compensation of RM9.65 billion.

It is important to avoid an increase in the water tariff to 70 percent as previously demanded by the Selangor Water Supply Company (Syabas).

Previously, some PR leaders were seen as not agreeing with the MoU signed between Abdul Khalid and the Federal Government, represented by the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.