KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat’s Selangor water committee foresees another potential crisis emerging over the water restructuring in Selangor, due to a conflict between the federal and state governments over the ownership of water assets.

In a statement yesterday, Pakatan said a dispute materialised after the federal government claimed the Semenyih and Bukit Nanas reservoirs, together with all the water pipelines in Selangor, are under Putrajaya’s management and ownership, while Pakatan said the assets belong to the Selangor government.

“Assets such as dams and rivers are sources of water which definitely belong to the state government, according to parties that are familiar with the water industry,” said Pakatan.

The Edge Weekly had on Feb 2, 2015 reported that a feud was brewing between opposition-led Selangor and Barisan Nasional-controlled federal government on the ownership of the water assets in the state.

In the statement, Pakatan said the Selangor government, via its entity Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, was supposed to settle the negotiations with Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd in early January 2015, but the federal government wants to further extend the settlement by another month, due to the new dispute.

The state government offered Puncak Niaga Holdings RM3.1 billion for its holdings in Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) and RM2.8 billion for Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd and Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd were offered RM1.8 billion and RM992 million for their water assets.

“The federal government’s actions will definitely cause a delay, with consumers in Selangor, the Federal Territory and Kuala Lumpur [paying] the price,” said Pakatan.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 25, 2015.