Kedah in discussion with federal govt on water debt

ALOR STAR: The Kedah state government is still discussing with the federal government on the debt it needs to settle before restructuring its water supply services industry.
State Housing and Local Government, Water Supply, Water Source and Energy Committee chairman Datuk Badrol Hisham Hashim (pix) said so in reply to Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (PPBM-Ayer Hitam) at the State Legislative Assembly here today.
The latter had asked about the progress in the proposed Kedah Water Supply Services Industry Restructuring Agreement.
Badrol said the state government was concerned about the amount that Syarikat Air Darulaman Berhad (SADA) needed to settle after implementing the water migration
"We don't want our debt to be too high when we do the water migration. If possible, we want to reduce it and furthermore, this negotiation process requires us to prepare a complete documentation, which will take time."
He said the state government had noted to the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry on the terms of agreement and terms which required further discussions.
"As of now, we have not finalised the agreement with the federal government through Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB)," he said.
Meanwhile, he told a press conference outside the state assembly that the federal government had already written off about RM336 million of the state government's debt.
Hopefully, he said, the federal government would consider doing the same to the remaining RM500 million. — Bernama