SHAH ALAM (Aug 8): Selangor Menteri Besar Amiruddin Shari has dismissed his predecessor Tan Sri Ibrahim Khalid's claim that the state government is paying 10 times more now to buy Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) at RM2.55 billion, compared with the previous offer of RM250.6 million in 2013.

Amiruddin said Splash’s new price tag, which was derived on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis, is "much lower than its existing market price".

"This has been answered many times in the state assembly, and Khalid was there sitting in front of Azmin," Amiruddin told reporters after attending the Roundtable on Selangor Budget 2019 here today, which saw nearly 300 participants from the academia, alongside heads of various government agencies, entrepreneurs and students. 

According to Amiruddin, the RM2.55 billion price tag to acquire Splash was also lower than the value contained in the valuation deed, which was prepared by independent consultants. 

He also blamed Selangor's first "unacceptable" offer in 2013, which was made under Khalid’s watch, as one of other factors that have dragged the water consolidation process and raised Splash's overall current valuation to RM3.54 billion, from RM1.9 billion to RM2 billion.

"That's why the wiling-buyer wiling-seller basis is an acceptable solution," Amiruddin said. 

He was responding to Khalid’s statement in a Facebook post last week, in which Khalid claimed Selangor is forking out 10 times more to acquire Splash, the last of the four concessionaires required to complete the state's water consolidation exercise.

On Friday (Aug 4), Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) made the offer to pay RM2.55 billion for a 100% stake in Splash, marking an end to the water consolidation saga in Selangor that has taken more than five years to resolve. 

Air Selangor’s RM2.55 billion offer was at a 28% discount to Splash’s net book value of RM3.54 billion as of end-June, Amiruddin said.

Once Air Selangor completes the Splash buy, the state government will continue to replace 22,000km of state water pipe networks on a staggered basis, a job which analysts have estimated to cost over RM1 billion.

“In the last three years, Selangor has replaced 400km out of 22,000km of water pipe networks, with more than RM500 million spent,” he added.

After the state replaced the 400km water pipes, Selangor witnessed a “marked improvement” in the non-revenue water which has dropped to 30%, from 33% previously, Amiruddin said.

Meanwhile, Selangor expects to table its state budget on Nov 23, which will focus on agricultural development to ensure food security, which has yet to meet a satisfactory self-sufficiency level, he said.

“On average, the supply of meat, paddy and vegetables is far from being self-sufficient, if say, compared to eggs and chicken,” he added.