Putrajaya blames Selangor for breaching water deal 
MalaysiaKini.com
Mar 10, 2015     
By Ram Anand 

The federal government has laid the blame on the Selangor for "breaching" the water agreement resulting in its collapse, contrary to claims by the state.
 
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Maximus Ongkili told the Dewan Rakyat today that Selangor did not fulfil condition precedents for the master agreement between both parties, which was signed last September, to come into effect.
 
"As far as we are concerned, the whole process was going on smoothly until the state decided not to extend the deal," Maximus (right) said.
 
He had earlier engaged in a debate with Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali over the deal, and both parties refused to budge from their respective stands of blaming each other.
 
Maximus said Selangor had breached the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in February last year, and also the Heads of Agreement (HoA) signed in August.
 
He warned that the state's actions could cause water shortage for Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur in the near future.
 
45-year period

"I hope the current Selangor administration will follow the previous menteri besar (Abdul Khalid Ibrahim) and the previous exco. They did a good job in engaging with us," he said.
 
Maximus also said the state did not read the master agreement "properly" in assuming the federal government will permanently take over the land on which the pipes are located.

Instead, he said, the land will be taken for a 45-year period before being handed back to the state.

"That is normal as with all other states. When we say assets, it includes the land above the pipes as well," he said.

He said that the state government might not be making decisions on "technicality but on politics".

"I am confident we can still solve the matter. The HoA and the MoU still stands," he said.

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