KUALA LUMPUR: There is no reason for Putrajaya to hide from taxpayers how their money is being spent on the water restructuring deal with Selangor, unless it involves the security of the nation, an anti-graft watchdog said.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel, in a strongly worded statement yesterday, pointed out that the controversial water deal has become a matter of public interest, given the long tussle during the negotiation process.

She asked why the government seems reluctant to share the information with its own people by hiding the water agreement under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

“Why is there a need to withhold the details of the deal? Why keep us Malaysians in the dark over how our taxpayers’ funds were spent? Surely the agreement does not threaten the security of the nation?”

Gabriel said the Attorney-General’s refusal to disclose the details of the agreement — which was signed and finalised in the last days of former Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s tenure — is an “outright abuse of power”.

She supported the call by new Selangor MB Mohamad Azmin Ali who demanded that the A-G should provide a formal and written reason why public disclosure could not be exercised in this case.

Gabriel also warned that there will be greater distrust if the government continues to use the OSA as a shield to protect itself from the responsibility of public disclosure.

“Malaysia must live up to the demands of the information age and stop treating its citizens like its enemies. We must have the political will to move towards a more open government in order not to be left behind by other Asian giants,” Gabriel said.

The master agreement is aimed at taking over operations of the RM30 billion Selangor water industry from four private companies and returning it to public ownership.

The industry will now be run and controlled by the state government entity, Air Selangor. Of the four water concessionaires in Selangor, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (Splash) is the only company which has refused the initial buyout.

Puncak Niaga, Syabas and Kumpulan Abass had agreed to the takeover which costs the state government RM7.8 billion. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 20, 2014.