SYABAS – and the systematic water torture.
Stan CH Lee - thedrawingisonthewall.blogspot.ca
"Under
Syabas, Malaysians are paying more and more for water that is not even
fit to drink .We have been living with murky, tea colored water for
years, forcing us to spend thousands on home water filters. Imagine,
just to get clean water to drink. This alone is the clearest sign that
the water concessionare is not doing its job.
Like
all BN privatisation projects, this is a lopsided contract favouring
cronies over the people's welfare. When the CEO is paid a whopping
RM425,000 a month basic pay, in a loss making concern, you would think
he should be more than satisfied with his pay. But no, he still needs to
make even more money by buying pipes from his own company inIndonesia -
in clear breach of the terms of the privatisation contract. I for one
do not understand why a contract cannot be nullified if terms are
breached.
And now there is the ongoing water crisis in Selangor.
Looming
large in the background is the BN backed Langat 2 project -ostensibly
conceived to alleviate future water shortage by getting water from
Pahang. The catch is, you need to cut through the Main Range to
bring the water over, resulting in a mega billion ringgit bill. To be
paid by - you guessed it - increasing the water tariff on a monopolised
water supply.This has been in the pipeline for a while now since BN days
and waiting to be fast tracked for negotiated tender and award - no
doubt to another BN crony with absolutely no track record but plenty of
cables.
But
there is a stumbling block.Water is under state jurisdiction – and the
Selangor State Government, now under PR, has an alternative source of
water from Perak that will cost only a fraction of what Langat 2 is
projected to cost. This will go a long way to help people mitigate the
rising costs of living. So there is a stalemate. BN wants to spend
Billions on Langat 2. PR does not.
That
is why, with GE13 coming up and the strong possibility of the Federal
Government falling to PR there is a sense of panic and urgency in the
air - and the PM has already declared that he wants Selangor back in BN
hands by hook or by crook!
In
a totally irresponsible, malicious and possibly life threatening move,
the Federal Government , through SYABAS is using water to hold the
people to ransom by manufacturing a water shortage complete with a TV
advertisement showing people queueing up for water to highlight the
“incompetency” of the Selangor Government, thinking that the people will
get upset with the Selangor Government and bring back BN who will then
“magically”turn on the taps.
But
the weather has been kind and it has been raining throughout this
period and the dams are full to overflowing, so the story about water
shortage simply does not - well, hold water. In spite of this very
obviously wet season, the Federal Government expects the people of
Selangor to believe there is a shortage nevertheless, that is slated to
last through to the Chinese New Year.
As
the affected people of Selangor do their daily water runs just remember
the water trucks are there not to help you. They are there to help the
BN win votes."
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Stan CH Lee - Malaysian at heart. Now freezing my butt off in Toronto.Until
early January 2013, I communicate and express myself mainly through
drawings and pictures, not much different from the caveman of yore when I
was a firm believer in the adage “A picture is worth a thousand
words”.I used to be a storyboard artist, cartoonist, airbrush artist, 3D
animator and perspective artist and still cannot resist the urge to
doodle and squiggle. But I wanted to put a finger (2 fingers?) on the
collective pulse of the nation and share my thoughts with all and
sundry.
Then I discovered, some things are better said in words.
And please feel free to like and share my articles and drawings.
If you wish to use it for publications, please write in for official permission.
Stan CH Lee - thedrawingisonthewall.blogspot.ca
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