NGO accuses company of ‘creating’ water panic

 

 

SANTIAGO: Syabas is misusing its powers and holding the public to ransom 

 

SYARIKAT Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) “manufactured” the water crisis and is holding the public as “pawns” to clinch water infrastructure contracts, the Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP) claimed.

Its coordinator and Klang MP, Charles Santiago, said the state water concessionaire was “creating unnecessary panic” among the public to push for the Langat 2 water treatment plant.

“We are going into the month of Ramadan and water is obviously important. They are picking on people’s vulnerability to turn them against the state government. This is unacceptable,” he told The Malay Mail.
Santiago also questioned Syabas’ move in making a surprise announcement on water rationing instead of warning the public on dwindling water levels.

“If they knew there was going to be a water shortage, why didn’t they announce it two or three months ago? Syabas is holding the country and state to ransom.”

On Saturday, Syabas announced that it was planning to implement water rationing in the Klang Valley following the worsening water crisis.

He said the only solution to the water problem was for the Selangor government to take over Syabas’ operations and to conduct a forensic audit into the company’s treatment plants and financial accounts.

“We won’t really know how much our water reserves are until we know what’s happening to our water treatments. I suggest we invite the International Water Association (IWA) and a foreign public water management company to do a forensic audit on Syabas,” he said.

“We cannot depend on the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) because they are too close to Syabas. We also cannot trust locally based foreign auditors because they have contracts with the government.”

Santiago said history had shown that water concessionaires had used “droughts to acquire new businesses.”