KOTA KINABALU: Six companies operating 58 water treatment plants are suing the State Government over the abrupt termination of their concession contracts.
Five of the companies have filed their writ of summons at the High Court here seeking damages totalling nearly RM254 million.
The amount represents more than half of the expected RM409 million damages to be sought once all six companies file their suits.
The companies that have so far initiated their legal action were Arawira Sdn Bhd, Yuda Water Sdn Bhd, BYT Vision Sdn Bhd, Harmony Water Sdn Bhd and Sahabat Megajuta Sdn Bhd.
Arawira filed two suits in which it sought damages of RM30.9 million and RM37.9 million respectively, Yuda Water (RM51.1 million), BYT Vision (RM42.8 million), Harmony Water (RM30.2 million) and Sahabat Megajuta (RM60.9 million).
The company that has yet to file its summonses against the Sabah government was said to be Akal Kukuh Sdn Bhd.
In its statement of claim, Arawira, which had been operating the water treatment plants at Milau in the northern Kudat district and Sigaliud in the east coast Sandakan district, said it fully complied with the terms of the concession agreement since taking over the operations of both plants in 2011.
The company, however, claimed that the Sabah government had failed to give any reasons for terminating the contracts. The Water Department has also refused to meet the water concessionaires to have a smooth-hand over of the treatment plants.
Arawira named Sabah Water Department Director Amarjit Singh and the state government as the first and second defendants respectively in its suit.
Yuda Water, BYT Vision, Harmony Water and Sahabat Megajuta made similar statements in their respective Statement of Claims.
Last December, Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister, Datuk Peter Anthony announced that the state government had decided to terminate the contracts of six companies with effect from Jan 15, 2019.
He said the decision, made through the cabinet meeting, was because the government could not afford to pay the charges, that he described as being “too high” imposed by the six firms,
Peter said the move come after the state government took into account the various factors including its financial constraints.
He said the operations of the 58 treatment plants would be taken over by Sabah Water Department with the termination of the outsourcing contracts.
The concessionnaire firms still had remaining contracts for 13 years and five months but the state government decided to terminate the contracts as it would save money with the department taking over the treatment plants’ operations.