KUANTAN, Dec 8 — Pahang Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, said that efforts to eliminate the Pahang government’s debt to the federal government, amounting to RM2.074 billion, through the restructuring of the state water supply service began in 2018.

He said that the effort to restructure the water supply began before Cheka assemblyman, Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, began serving as Environment and Water Minister, which was in early March 2020.

Touching on the chronology of restructuring, Wan Rosdy said that it started on Sept 5, 2018, when he agreed to restart discussions on the federal government’s offer, through the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources, led by Datuk Dr Xavier Jayakumar then.

"The state government at that time set up a task force to negotiate and manage the restructuring measures, because this is not an easy matter, involving government money. Even one sen of this government money needs to be counted, because it will be audited.

"On March 30, 2020, when Cheka (assemblyman) had just become a minister, all draft agreements were updated and finalised, based on the main terms agreed by the federal and state governments, including the amount agreed to be written off amounting to RM2.074 billion,” he said.

Wan Rosdy said this when winding up the debate on the 2024 Budget at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, at Wisma Sri Pahang here today. He added that the signing ceremony for the agreement was held on Dec 23, 2020, which is after the leader of the opposition in the Pahang state assembly became a minister.

"I would like to thank Cheka (Tuan Ibrahim) for agreeing to sign... it’s like playing football, with the ball in front of the goal and Cheka has helped me score,” he said.

Tuan Ibrahim then interjected to explain that the agreement was only reached after Pahang agreed to the terms and conditions imposed, including raising the water tariff since this state has the lowest water tariff.

"As long as it (water tariff) doesn’t go up, no promises can be fulfilled. We managed to raise the water tariff for the industry. By raising that tariff, Pahang got rid of (the debt). I don’t want to extend it any longer, because anyone who becomes a government has to carry out their responsibilities regardless of party,” he said.

Also related to water supply, Wan Rosdy stressed that the state government is committed to solving 90 per cent of the water supply issue by 2026 and making it a priority, given that the issue is large and complex, requiring careful planning and large allocations.

All these efforts, according to Wan Rosdy, are on the right track, as of last November a total of 226 water supply projects, involving an allocation of RM275.1 million, while 37 projects are in the implementation stage, involving a cost of RM465 million.

He also said that the state government implemented various initiatives to help the people own land, and since he became Menteri Besar in 2018, a total of 69,451 land ownerships have been implemented, with the latest number of land ownerships being 742,387.

The Pahang state assembly today also unanimously approved the state Budget 2024, which was tabled on Monday, and Wan Rosdy hopes that it can drive the state’s development better, with all the people’s welfare agendas continued to be empowered. — Bernama