THE Selangor government shouldn’t be blamed for the water disruptions in the state as it took proactive measures for the scheduled maintenance works, said Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Speaking to reporters after the border agreement signing ceremony with Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob, Azmin said allegations by Prime Minister Najib Razak that Selangor has failed to manage water were unfounded. 

“If you dare, blame the prime minister.

“We have taken proactive measures so the allegations by the prime minister that we failed to manage water, the issue of water ration and shortage of water, are baseless,” he said.

Azmin said there was no water shortage because the state completed the RM177.5 million Semenyih 2 Water Treatment Plant in Dengkil on March 1. 

The water supply restoration period following the repair works on the critical equipment at the Sungai Selangor Phase 3 Water Treatment Plant (SSP3) was extended after the surge vessel system at the plant burst on Tuesday

The repair works at the plant, however, were completed ahead of time at 5pm on Tuesday.

Some 500,000 Syabas account holders are only expected to get water supply back tomorrow or Sunday while repairs are done to the survey vessel system.

Azmin reiterated the state government was in the process of taking over Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (SPLASH), which handles the water treatment plant, from the federal government.  

As such, incidents at the plant were beyond Selangor government’s control.  

“The process (of taking over) hasn’t been completed, both parties were given until July 2018 to complete the exercise.

“If it’s not our asset, how do you expect us to move into those facilities to conduct the maintenance,” he said. 

He said the state government had even asked the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to allow the state government and Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd to help SPLASH with repair works. 

“It was the state government who recommended two experienced contractors to help SPLASH. We appointed more than one contractor because we want the repair works to be completed as soon as possible,” he said. 

On March 7, Najib said Barisan Nasional would solve the Selangor water crisis if it managed to wrest back the state.

He also identified five weaknesses of the state government.

“One is the problem of water. There is a shortage of water. This is because the Selangor government has failed to manage water,” Najib said.

The water disruption has affected areas like Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang, Shah Alam, Gombak, Hulu Selangor and Kuala Langat. – March 9, 2018.