Khalid blames certain quarters for accusing Selangor govt of sourcing harmful water

KUALA LUMPUR - Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today claimed "certain quarters" had deliberately tried to stir up trouble by accusing the state government of sourcing harmful water from former mining pools.

Speaking to reporters at PKR's service centre at Bandar Tun Razak here, Khalid said the accusers were dissatisfied individuals who were unsuccessful in winning contracts to manage the former mining pools.

"I know there are people who wanted the contracts to manage the mining pools. But the state government did not want to award contracts to third parties as we wanted to make sure the people of Selangor didn't have to pay extra for water."

He added these people were employing "scare tactics" to spread fear among the people of Selangor by claiming the water sourced from the mining pools were too dangerous for consumption.

Khalid also accused the Health Ministry of refusing to help the Selangor state government in managing the issue.

"The Health Ministry is not helping us solve the matter. I must make it clear that although we have not yet sourced water from the mining pools, we have to prepare in case there is an extended drought. If there is need to draw water from the pools, we will. Otherwise, we won't," he said.