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Monday, October 20, 2014

Why is the Selangor water agreement classified as OSA ?

Classifying the document under the OSA will only invite accusations of corruption.
COMMENT
By Charles Santiago
azmin waterThe ongoing resistance of the federal government to publicly disclose all contents of the Selangor water restructuring agreement signed by previous Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim is puzzling, to say the least.
What is the logic behind hiding the agreement, which is essentially a public document that warrants public scrutiny?
When asked to comment on the lack of disclosure by the government, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili gave two absurd reasons.
Firstly, he said that based on the advice of the Attorney-General, the agreement would not be disclosed.
Secondly, he said that the consent of the state water concessionaires were needed in order for agreement to be made public.
No need for OSA
The AG needs to explain why the Selangor water-restructuring agreement has been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Does the water agreement compromise national security? How does a water restructuring process involving a commercial transaction between a buyer and seller amount to a national security threat?
Classifying the document under the OSA will only invite accusations of corruption.
The people deserve to know
The tax-paying people of Selangor have the right to demand that the government invest their money in deals that put the people’s interests first.
Thus, declassifying documents from the water deal would be one of the ways that the government can remain accountable to the electorate.
Selangor MB Azmin Ali had expressed concern that the costs of maintaining and operating the technology required to treat raw water were excessive and unnecessary, which would affect the water tariff in future and burden the consumers.
The federal authorities continued resistance to the Selangor state government’s requests for public disclosure suggests that they fear the peoples’ wrath.
They also clearly consider the state of Selangor a minor player in the whole matter.
The state’s role, specifically, is to ensure the land acquisition and approval including approving development orders for the construction of treatment plants and other water related infrastructure.
The more important decisions pertaining to costs, technology, awarding of contracts and other planning, management and executive responsibilities will be addressed by the federal government.
There is a lot at stake for the state of Selangor and its people as the restructuring exercise would require the state to cough out RM 7.8 billion from its coffers.
Acquiring and transferring the water assets into public hands was a key election promise, one that was enthusiastically supported by the Selangor electorate.
Therefore, the federal government’s continued denial to the public’s right to information premised on national security is no longer acceptable and runs contrary to its own aims of transparency and accountability.
In fact, the real fear of the people of Selangor is that the OSA will be used to promote corruption in the water restructuring process to the detriment of the people and the state.
Charles Santiago is the MP for Klang

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