KLANG: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has claimed that the Selangor government will purchase Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings (Splash) for a whopping RM2.7 billion.
Najib also alleged that a “Tan Sri,” who has a 30 per cent stake in Splash, will benefit handsomely from the purchase.
He said that the Tan Sri is a crony of a top Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader and co-founder of a political party which he did not name.
“I want to inform you that within these one or two days, there will be a purchase of Splash by the Selangor government.
“The Selangor government will pay RM2.7 billion.
“There is a Tan Sri in Splash who owns a 30 per cent stake in the company.
“This Tan Sri is… the co-founder of (a political) party,” Najib said in a speech at Bandar Putera while campaigning for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, Datuk Lokman Noor Mansor, who is running in the Sungai Kandis by-election.
Najib said the payment is a far cry from what was stated by former Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim a few years ago.
“Back then, Khalid said the purchase would only (cost) RM250 million.
“And now, (the state government) is paying RM2.7 billion,” Najib said, adding that the purchase would lead to an increase in the state’s water tariff.
“The people of Selangor have been taken for a ride. This is why we need a voice in the state assembly to state that such an agreement should not take place.
“Under the BN government, we did not make people’s lives difficult,” he added.
Last Saturday, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar had brushed aside a foreign media report suggesting that the federal government is set to pay RM1.9 billion for the takeover of Splash.
Singapore’s Straits Times had reported that a joint-funding deal had been struck, and that the total buyout was set at between RM2.5 billion and RM2.7 billion, and that the Selangor government is expected to fork out between RM600 million and RM800 million.
It was reported that the process of restructuring the state’s water industry had been put on hold because of disagreements between the then PH state administration and BN federal government.
The state government, then led by menteri besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, had rejected a proposal for the state government to bear 40 per cent of the cost and the ministry to pay 60 per cent.
Xavier had also said issues over the takeover would be resolved by early August.
At a separate event tonight, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the takeover of Splash is considered complete, but has yet to be finalised due to documentation work.