Is the Syabas deal water under the bridge?

FMT LETTER

From: Anne via e-mail

I think it was some time last year when I first read that the State Government of Selangor had showed interest in taking over the water supply company, SYABAS.

My first reaction after reading the news was that the land, water, and air, pretty much anything within the border of the state does technically belong to the government so why not let them be in charge of it?

Besides, most consumers wouldn’t even mind who the company belonged to as long as the water tariff remained the same and the water supply was in perfect condition; clean, clear and safe.

Consumers would only start to freak out when they turned on their tap and brown water gushed forth, or worse yet, not a single drop, brown or otherwise. As a consumer myself, the idea of not having clean water would make me worry knowing the weather of our country.

This brings me to the reason why I am writing this letter. I’ve read various articles mentioning the hand-over of the water concession. Some articles sounded genuine enough while others had “politics” written all over it.

Nevertheless this water issue has dragged on for months. The deadline was postponed several times even after the agreement was sealed. After all, the entire episode dragged for years prior to this. Even in a baseball game if you miss three strikes, you’re out.

For both the State Government of Selangor and the Federal Government of Malaysia, the two big names in the industry, this delay shouldn’t have happened regardless of which side caused it.

Both sides should have been more firm for the sake of consumers. Also, leaving us with so little information also causes chaos. People start worrying about the implications and asking if they will still get water supply if “no-one” seems in-charge of the industry and if no-one is in-charge to execute orders.

What does the State Government of Selangor mean when they say that they will restructure the water industry? How big of a change will consumers face?

I hope that both the State Government of Selangor and the Federal Government of Malaysia can provide us with more information so it does not cause more unnecessary confusion.

We would also like for them to assure us that we will not face another delay to the agreement. Hopefully this matter will be settled on the last date mentioned with no further postponements.