Selangor State Pakatan Government vs SYABAS water tariff dispute, Pakatan demonstrators got tear gassed and water cannon for nothing

Apparently some of the crowd which gathered in Masjid Negara, attempted to march towards The Istana Negara even though the Pakatan Menteri Besar of Selangor were already given a free car ride by the Police to the Istana to deliver the so called Rakyat Selangor Memorandum. As if tempting fate, some of them refused to disperse when warned by the Police forcing the Police to release tear gas and fire water cannon to disperse the crowd. 

Police say used ‘minimum action’ on water protesters

Lets just say some of these unruly demonstrators has got their just rewards from the police as also 50 of them were arrested but released later in the day. All I can say is that what they did and gone through are all for nothing. Why? This is what Peter Chin, our Menteri Tenaga, Teknoloji Hijau dan Air has to say from his blog:

Selangor Water Impasse

It looks like MB Selangor, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, and his Pakatan Rakyat friends are more interested to get political capital from the water restructuring exercise that paying full attention to the matter at hand which is to hammer out a deal with the water concession companies.

I really do not see the point of holding a protest march to the Istana Negara just to hand over a Memo to DYMM Yang DiPertuan Agong on a matter that both the Selangor and the Federal Government have agreed to be handled by a Joint Committee to find ways as well as means to effect the restructuring exercise.

The committee is still existing so let it carry on. There is no need to involve the Palace at all. This is pure politics and nothing else!

On the other hand, Tan Sri Khalid made a statement today to tell the world that I had agreed to let Selangor buy over the water companies in a letter that I had written to him.

He timed this statement a day after handing over the protest memorandum to the Istana Official.

To me the Menteri Besar was trying to take advantage of what I had written to him two or three weeks ago in reply to a letter from him.

Perhaps he wanted to show that I had capitulate to the protest march last Sunday and by connotation bow to the pressure so exerted.

I am of the view all along that we must resolve the water issue calmly and not politicise the same to suit one’s political agenda.

I urge the MB to go on with the restructuring plans of his as time is the essence of the matter.

Read Peter Chin's post in full here.

I think the Menteri Besar do not really care about the water rates, the demonstration is just a  ploy by the PKR Menteri Besar of Selangor to gain political points for his Pakatan State Government which until now had shown that it is all talk but no action nor reforms, reforms that they promised during the 2008 elections.

What Peter Chin said is glaring on the divisiveness of the PKR state Government: 

"I really do not see the point of holding a protest march to the Istana Negara just to hand over a Memo to DYMM Yang DiPertuan Agong on a matter that both the Selangor and the Federal Government have agreed to be handled by a Joint Committee to find ways as well as means to effect the restructuring exercise."


Now that the ball is in MB Khalid's court, with the Federal Government agreeing to Selangor buying the water companies (I presume this means SYABAS as well), it would be interesting what will the Pakatan Selangor Government come out with from their political bag of tricks to further squeeze political points from the water saga. By buying over the companies the water tariff rates rise or discount will be in their hands. No amount of demonstrations can rescue the Pakatan State Selangor this time. 


Water is a giver of life, it can also make life miserable if misused.