Perak set to ink water agreement

IPOH: The Perak government is likely to sign an agreement with water asset management company Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) before April as part of its water restructuring plan.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir (pic) said yesterday he was satisfied with the outcome of the final stage of the discussions held between the state and the company at end of last year.

“Overall, I am satisfied with the discussions we had and it is now time to move on to the next stage,” he said after attending the Thaipusam celebrations here.

Zambry said the matter was delayed for some time because the state had wanted to ensure the terms are more balanced and fair to both parties.

He said that despite the signing, Perak Water Board (LAP) would still retain some of the state’s water assets.

“As discussed during the recent state assembly, we are not going to migrate all the assets to PAAB,” he said.

“With that, all I can say now is that it is a matter of time before we officially sign the agreement.”

It was reported that the under the deal, the development of dams and reservoirs would fall under the purview of the federal government and PAAB while the water supply would be maintained by the state.

The cost of acquiring the water assets in Perak was estimated to be over RM650 million.

In December, Zambry announced the state government’s debt with the federal government was expected to be reduced from RM970.59million to RM78.66mil with LAP’s migration of water assets to PAAB.

It was also reported the national water restructuring plan would help the state and concessionaires to eased off on the heavy burden of funding future water infrastructure development.