Ministry sees smooth flow as Selangor water revamp enters final lap

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water believes that there will be no further setbacks to the Selangor water restructuring exercise despite Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd recently threatening to terminate its RM1.55 billion deal should another extension of the agreement be sought.
Stressing that “everything is moving on very well and as planned”, ministry secretary-general Datuk Loo Took Gee said she is confident that the water agreement between Puncak Niaga and Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd will be able to meet the latest deadline, Oct 15.
“Some of the conditional procedures needed to be fulfilled, but they (have) already fulfilled them, so no problem at all as far as the ministry is concerned,” she told a press conference at the Asean Energy Business Forum 2015 yesterday.
Last month, Puncak Niaga, in a strongly worded statement, expressed its dissatisfaction over the continued delay in the completion of the agreement, stating the water deal with the state government will be terminated if it is not completed by Oct 15, the eighth extension so far.
Puncak Niaga owns 100% of Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd and 70% equity interest in Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas).
“Once the water assets are provided, the money will be disbursed to the vendor, there is no problem with the assets,” Loo said.
Selangor and Putrajaya had in July signed a supplemental agreement for the state’s water restructuring plan, which allows the exercise to proceed without Selangor giving up its land while still complying with the requirements of the Water Services Industry Act (Wasia) 2006.
Asked about the negotiations with Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd (Abbas) and Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash), Loo said it is the state government’s responsibility to do so.
“The state will have to do the negotiation, the ministry merely facilitates,” she added.
Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd has agreed to sell its 30% stake in Splash as well as 90.83% stake in Abbas.
However, Gamuda has declined to sell its 40% stake in Splash as it will result in a divestment loss of RM920 million. The price tag, it said, should be at least RM2.8 billion compared with the offer price of RM250.6 million.
The offer prices for the other three concessionaires – Puncak Niaga, Syabas and Abbas – are RM2.47 billion, RM3.11 billion and RM990 million respectively.