Unreasonable to compare 1MDB issue with Selangor water woes, says Azmin

SHAH ALAM: It was unbecoming of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to compare the seriousness of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue with the Selangor water problems, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said.
Dragging the conflict into the state legislative assembly, Mohamed Azmin said the issue of national debt should not be downplayed as the burden would have to be borne by future generations.
"To compare it with the water issue in Selangor, I believe, was an unfair and unreasonable comparison. More so that it was made by the country's top leader in the Dewan Rakyat," he told the assembly in response to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR - Kajang).
Wan Azizah in a politically charged question had asked the mentri besar over the water issue in Selangor, citing a remark made by Najib that the water situation in Selangor was more critical than 1MDB.
Najib in a Parliament sitting recently had remarked that the water crisis in Selangor is more critical than the 1MDB issue, in responding to a supplementary question posed by Mohamed Azmin.
Mohamed Azmin in his supplementary question had asked the government to explain why the interest on the nation's debts have increased over the years and whether the financial woes of 1MDB had any implication on the current financial situation.
Thousands of consumers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had to endure a water service disruption early this month due to emergency repair works at a water treatment plant.
Mohamed Azmin in his reply also criticised the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry secretary- general Datuk Seri Ir Dr Zaini Ujang over his handling of the water restructuring issue in Selangor.
Mohamed Azmin said as a regulator of water industry in the country, Zaini should have refrained from involving a political matter in the issue.
"It is worrying to us for a regulator to come out with statements that have no basis and are laden with politics," he said.
"The water industry in Selangor and the country will be affected if we have a regulator that is not professional in resolving the issue faced by the rakyat."