KUALA LUMPUR – The Canal City project had to be cancelled in order to save Selangor-owned assets from being sold off by a “one-sided” deal, which benefited a private company, said Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
The former Selangor menteri besar said the agreement on the project promised great profits for the company, whereas the state would be made responsible if the project failed.
“In my opinion, Selangor has taken too many losses from such agreements,” he said in a Facebook post.
“However, I have ensured that all decisions on the cancellation of the project were transparent and orderly, based on reports and studies by relevant government departments.”
Khalid, who served as menteri besar between March 2008 and September 2014, was responding to criticisms on his decision to scrap the massive infrastructure project, which is said to be able to prevent the recent deadly floods in parts of Selangor, especially in the worst-hit Taman Sri Muda.
In his Facebook post, he conceded that his administration was “not perfect”, but he did try to give “the best value for the people”.
“There are times that my decisions were unpopular among political circles, what more private companies, but I am confident that the people of Selangor are smart in evaluating what is best.”
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Thursday said the Barisan Nasional-led Selangor government had begun the Canal City project in 2008, which involved an 18km water strait near Taman Sri Muda and Kota Kemuning.
On Facebook, Najib panned the Pakatan Harapan-led state government under Khalid, who had cancelled the project after wresting Selangor in the general election in 2008.
Najib said the RM3 billion Canal City project – if completed – would have shifted 30% of Sg Klang’s water capacity into Sg Langat, if the former was overflowing.
Khalid’s predecessor, Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo, when contacted by The Vibes recently, also lambasted the PKR leader for cancelling the Canal City project, although he insisted that it was no use playing the blame game.
“But Khalid had cancelled that project. The sad thing is that he had given the site of the project to others (for development),” Mohamad said.
“The water levels will rise in Selangor every year due to global warming. The state government now must think of ways for water to be channelled between the two rivers during critical periods.”
Khalid also made the post in response to his former aide Faekah Husin, who shed light on the events that led up to the cancellation of the Canal City project in 2010.
Faekah explained that on February 26, 2003, the Selangor-led BN government had approved the application of a state government subsidiary Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB) to develop a flood mitigation project covering a land area of 2132.98ha in the Tg Dua Belas and Teluk Panglima Garang subdistricts in Kuala Langat.
However, based on a more detailed study, the area of the new project covered 1,986ha in line with the concept plan approved by the Selangor Town and Rural Planning Department.
She added that on June 23, 2004, the BN government approved two land titles for PNSB, namely 880.91ha and 168.95 ha respectively, while the remaining 931.18ha of land will involve the acquisition of land on private lots and the relocation of indigenous communities in the areas involved.
Among other matters, Faekah said that project required the government to pay the construction company, Canal City Construction Sdn Bhd, RM1.345 billion in stages over a period of 20 years in order to finance the company’s obligations amounting to RM1.28 billion.
She said Canal City Construction Sdn Bhd will have to be assured a minimum profit of RM74 million, while PNSB will earn a return of RM 22.2 million.
“It is very clear that the decision to cancel the project was not made recklessly but was supported by studies from the relevant government departments.
“At the same time, the state government has also prepared a long-term plan to address the water problems in Selangor, namely the issue of a lack of water supply and also the problem of floods.”
Meanwhile, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, yesterday insisted that the Canal City project would not have prevented the deadly flash floods, despite Najib’s assertions.
Instead, Amirudin said the disaster was caused by extraordinary rainfall that overflowed water catchment areas, adding that future flood mitigation projects need to be able to collect up to 300mm to 400mm of water at any given time, Malay Mail Online reported.
“As the Agong said when he went to Sri Muda, he wants the state and federal governments to sit down and find a new plan to prevent this sort of floods from happening again,” he was quoted as saying.
“Is Canal City the answer? We must see the amount of water it can take. If it can’t hold up to 300-400mm of water, we can call it Canal City or Tower City, it won’t solve the issue.” – The Vibes, December 28, 2021
