BN urges Azmin to state offer for splash

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali should rightly state the overall amount the state government offered for the takeover of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) to speed up the process of purchase.
Permatang State Assemblyman Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Razak said the action of Azmin who attempted to place the blame on the federal government on the delay in the business of takeover was very disappointing.
"The mentri besar failed to answer the question when queried in the State Assembly but instead vacillated and blamed the federal government for not revealing the value that should be offered to Splash as proposed by independent evaluator, Deloitte.
"The evaluation by Deloitte was only for the reference of the federal government and rightly the state government should divulge the sum offered to buy Splash because the restructuring of the industry was not conducted at the directive of the federal government but at the behest of the state government in exchange for approving Langat 2," he told a media conference at the State Assembly lobby here today.
According to Sulaiman, in the process of negotiating the takeover, the federal government through the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry (KeTTHA) only acted as facilitator.
He said the state government only stated the amount offered for the business of the purchase of Splash and the figure was reasonable, there was no reason for the federal government to disagree and this issue would be finalised quickly.
"During the administration of the previous Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the state government offered a takeover price of Splash not exceeding RM9 billion, because, according to Khalid, the water tariff in Selangor would go up if the price was above that.
"So, I am convinced the takeover is delayed until now because the amount offered by the state government under Mohamed Azmin is quite high and we see his vacillating attitude will eventually hurt the people of Selangor," he said.
Prior to this, KeTTHA secretary general Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang in a statement stated that the business of procuring Splash by the Selangor state government was not over and the state had yet to offer any price for the process of takeover.
Earlier, when answering to a question from Sulaiman on the matter at the State Assembly sitting, Mohamed Azmin (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa) was seen as trying to vacillate by questioning the action of the federal government which refused to reveal the price offered on the purchase of Splash as recommended by Deloitte.
According to Mohamed Azmin, the state government had written to KeTTHA to obtain a confirmation on a reasonable value to be offered to Splash based on the evaluation, but until to date the ministry had not responded.
"For the sake of transparency in making an offer to Splash and to guarantee the interests of the people of Selangor, I am of the opinion the federal government must make the same move by sharing and submitting the result of evaluation by Deloitte," said Mohamed Azmin. — Bernama