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LETTER | The secretary-general (KSU) of Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (Kettha), Zaini Ujang, has been on a political crusade against the Selangor government for the past week.

Not only has his behaviour been highly unprofessional for a senior member of the civil service, he has falsely presented the facts about Selangor’s water situation.

Over the last week, Zaini has issued several statements and social media postings that have backed up the attacks on Selangor’s water from Umno/BN that began just days before scheduled repairs on the Sungai Selangor Phase 3 (SSP3) Water Treatment Plant.

The most misleading claim put forward by Zaini is that Selangor’s water reserve margin is at 0%.

He has based this false claim on a table in the Malaysian Water Industry Guide (MWIG) 2017. However, the photo of the table he posted on Twitter had the footnote cropped.

Had he read the footnote, or had he chosen not to conceal it from the public, he would have seen that it says that Selangor’s actual reserve margin was 2.2% and 4.4% for 2015 and 2016, respectively, not 0% as he claimed. (A copy of the full page is attached to this release; p. 21 MWIG 2017).

Kedah was also listed with a 0% reserve in the MWIG 2017, with no redeeming footnote. Why is there no fuss from Kettha about Kedah? Why is there only an emotional focus on Selangor, which UMNO/BN has been trying to smear ahead of the General Election?

In his press conference last week, Zaini deepened his allegation by claiming that Selangor’s reserve margin now is 0%. This is either sloppiness or a deception of the highest order.

His own Minister Maximus Ongkili on Tuesday reported to Parliament that Selangor’s margin is currently at 3%, not 0% according to Zaini. This can be read by all in the official Parliamentary Hansard.

Are the Minister and KSU of Kettha not speaking to each other? One says zero, the other says three. Why are they spreading different figures?

Unfortunately, the problem doesn’t stop there. Both the KSU and Minister’s figures for the reserve margin are wrong.

A flood of fake news?

Lately, Selangor has been the victim of an epidemic of faulty figures from BN, starting with Rahman Dahlan and Eric See-To, now the latest comes from the top leadership of Kettha.

BN is not only behind the times, even their statistics are stale.

Zaini and his Minister are welcome anytime to visit us in Shah Alam. We will serve them fresh tea and even fresher statistics.

For their information, Selangor’s water reserve margin at the beginning of 2018 was 3.5%, not 0%.

The reserve margin in March 2018 is currently 5.4%, not 0%. This is because Selangor spent RM 177.5 million to bring the Semenyih 2 Water Treatment Plant online last month. Our dams are 100% full across the state. This is why there have been no water shortages this year.

Here’s a teaser. By the end of 2018, our reserve margin is expected to be 9.6% and it will rise to 11% by 2019. That’s 11%, not 0%. Why the big jump?

The completion of part one of the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant in June 2018 and the Labohan Dagang Water Treatment Plant in January 2019, will raise Selangor’s water reserve margin to 11% in 2019.

Selangor Water Reserves:

  • Early 2018: 3.5%
  • March 2018: 5.4%
  • End 2018: 9.6%
  • 2019: 11%

It is very clear from these numbers that the Pakatan government in Selangor is implementing a forward-looking plan to turn around the state’s water supply after decades of failed privatisation initiated by UMNO/BN. As the water provider for the most populated and most industrialised state in Malaysia, Air Selangor faces the toughest job in the Malaysian water industry.

Rather than playing politics with the peoples’ water, Kettha should be supporting Selangor’s efforts. It is unbecoming for a senior civil servant to take such a partisan line in his official duties. It affects his responsibility to discharge his duties fairly and impartially to all states in the Federation.


YIN SHAO LOONG is strategic communications director at the Selangor Menteri Besar’s Office.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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