The Selangor state government does not agree to the water tariff increases as they would be detrimental to the welfare of the people, said Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

"The state government, however, wanted the increases to be reasonable where profitability would not be the main factor," he told reporters after a special luncheon address at the National Water and Utilities Summit 2010 in Kuala Lumpur today.

khalid ibrahimKhalid said this when commenting on a report in a local daily that a water tariff increase of between 15 percent and 20 percent may be in the offing for Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.

He said the state government was willing to negotiate further with the federal government on the Selangor water restructuring exercise but at the meetings the offer price kept going up.

"I'm personally uncomfortable with these high prices," he said. Khalid said the state government wanted to manage and operate the water services industry through a holistic entity.

"This would then provide better quality and more highly efficient services to the people at the reasonable tariff rates," he said.

He said profits earned would be channelled back to the people's needs through infrastructure as opposed to being pocketed by private companies.

- Bernama