Water privatisation: Consumers seek to make OSA docs public
March 1 is a special day for consumers of water in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.
A group of consumers, comprising the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) and 13 others under the Coalition Against Water Privatisation ( CAWP - www.monitoringglobalisation.org ), have applied to seek leave from the High Court to declare the Auditor-General’s report on non-revenue water as public document.
The AG's report forms the very basis for the recent 15% water rate increase affecting the areas.
High Court Justice Wan Afrah Ibrahim is scheduled to hear the application tomorrow. It will be good if you could make time to follow the proceeding.
Date: March 1, 2007 - Thursday
Time: 9am
Venue: Jalan Raya - Bangunan JKR - Rayuan dan Kuasa-Kuasa Khas 2
The judicial review was filed at the Appellate and Special Powers Division yesterday. The applicants have named the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry, the Selangor and Federal governments as respondents.
The applicants claimed that, as consumers of water in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, they had the right to access the audit report and the concessionaire agreement between Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) -- the concessionaire for privatised water supply services in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur -- and the Federal and state governments.
The agreement allows Syabas to raise the tariff by 15% if it manages to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) by 5%.
On January 16, the CAWP applied for a court order to make public the state's agreement with Syabas, and the Auditor-General's report on Syabas' reduction of NRW.
However, the government responded by stating that the concession agreement could not be made public as it has recently been classified under Official Secret Act (OSA).
The consumers' application for a judicial review is the first step towards making those documents public.
Relevant media reports:
1 ) theSun (Feb 4, 2007): Water deal terms revealed in 2005?
2 ) theSun (Feb 4, 2007): Poser over what qualifies as official secret
3 ) Farish A. Noor (Feb 8, 2007): Malaysia’s closet of secrets
4 ) Malaysiakini (Feb 5, 2007): OSA probe a cover for gov’t incompetency
NOTE: NRW (Non-revenue water) is the difference between water produced and water lost due to leakage, faulty meters and thefts.
Comments
Heard of "non-water revenue"?
Some of us working in micro enterprises have to pay RM32+ a month for water when our consumption is less than 2 cu.m.
Posted by: Mctx![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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February 28, 2007 06:35 PM