SHAH ALAM: Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah is happy that the state and Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) had successfully reached an agreement in the taking over of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash).
It was to conclude the water industry services restructuring exercise for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Sultan Sharafuddin said he was made to understand that with the finalisation of the Splash takeover on Aug 3, the Selangor state government, through Air Selangor, had issued an offer letter to the representatives of Splash shareholders with a takeover sum of RM2.55 billion, after a 28 per cent discount based on Splash’s net book value on June 30.
“The takeover, which does not involve any financial allocation from the Selangor state government coffers, has been structured with a long term payment. I hope that Air Selangor will be able to operate at a reasonable operational cost, which will at the same time ensure that the water tariff rate will not burden the people in my state,” said Sultan Sharafuddin today in his royal address when opening the second meeting of the first term of the 14th state legislative assembly sitting.
Gracing the opening were graced by Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin and Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah.
“The restructuring exercise of the water services industry will finally conclude when Air Selangor emerges as the sole company that processes, treat and distribute treated water to all consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” said Sultan Sharafuddin.
He said the state’s economy growth was stronger and stood at 7.1 per cent in 2017 compared to 4.8 per cent in 2016 and had also recorded a performance beyond the national level at 5.9 per cent.
He said he was proud that Selangor was the biggest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017 at 23 per cent.
“I believe Selangor will be the main focus of domestic and foreign investments and will continue to invest in this state.
“From January to March this year, my state has recorded a total investment of RM812,649.654,35 manufacturing projects have been approved where 53 per cent are local investments while 47 per cent are foreign investments.
“I am happy to note that Selangor has become the choice of investors from Japan in 2017 where the highest amount of investments are recorded at RM533 million. This is followed by Singapore at RM439 million and China at RM282 million.
“These statistics have proven that investors are comfortable and confident with the state’s administration policy for them to continue to invest and make investment improvements in Selangor,” he said.
In the royal address, Sultan Sharafuddin also congratulated and thanked the Armed Forces, the police as well as security agencies that had worked hard to ensure that the 14th General Election proceeded smoothly, peaceful and without untoward incidences.