Charles Santiago | Minister, hidden agenda in water deal?
Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Maximus Ongkili has put forward three broad arguments in not wanting to declassify the Master Agreement detailing the water restructuring exercise between the federal government and the state government of Selangor.
None of them makes any sense to me.
In fact his arguments only raises my suspicion that the underlying reason for keeping the agreement hushed up is because it's lop-sided in favor of the federal government.
The UMNO-led ruling government will have ownership and control of the project and the state government of Selangor is relegated to a status of a junior partner.
The federal government will make decisions on costs, financing, technology, contractors, infrastructure, and other key areas.
The Selangor government's responsibility will be to facilitate land acquisition, issuing developmental order and getting the local authorities to expedite various approvals.
The implications of such a skewed division of labor are serious.
Full story: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/279782
