Media statement by Lau Weng San in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 22^nd July 2010:

Make audit report and concession agreement public to know whether Selangor faces water crisis

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui should support the move to make public the audit report of Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdb. Bhd. (Syabas) and the water concessionaire agreement inked between Syabas, Federal and State Government in order for the people to know if Selangor is facing another water crisis in 2014.

Peter Chin yesterday blamed the Selangor State Government for delaying the development order application to construct a new water treatment plant named Langat2 in Hulu Langat district. The treatment is part of the project to channel raw water from Pahang to Selangor.

Peter Chin also said that the statement of Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim that there is sufficient water supply in Selangor till 2019 as misleading the public.

At the same time, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also pointed out that the statistic produced by Peter Chin is based on a survey conducted by the Federal Government's Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in 2000 named "National Water Resource Study (NWRS) Report 2000-2050". He claimed that the data in NWRS is outdated and there should be a new survey to collect the latest data.

Peter Chin as the sole Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) federal minister should not protect and should not be seemed as protecting UMNO's crony companies in dealing with water issues in Selangor.

If Peter Chin is sincere about resolving the so called "water crisis" in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and putrajaya, then the only thing he can do immediately is to agree that both the Syabas audit report and the water concessionaire agreement signed between Syabas, Federal Government and Selangor State Government be made public for the sake of public interest, transparency and accountability.

Only that then we can know whether Selangor is really facing water shortage or not. Unfortunately, though the High Court has ruled that both documents are public documents, the Federal Government seems to be against the public's right to know when it chooses to appeal to the Court of Appeal to reverse the ruling of the High Court.

Why can't the Federal Government just follow the ruling of the High Court?

When both documents are made public, everybody will be able to know the fact. Why Peter Chin is seemed to be more interested on the progress of the RM9billion mega project to channel raw water from Pahang to Selangor?

Why is there a need and urgency for Peter Chin to protect UMNO's crony companies and not resolve the current deadlock in restructuring the water service industries in Selangor first?

What does Peter Chin care most? The progress of the RM9 billion mega project or the welfare of 5 million Selangorians?

* Lau Weng San, SA for Kampung Tunku