SHAH ALAM, Sept 8 — Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said today that the contamination crisis at  the Semenyih water treatment plant yesterday illustrates why water privatization has failed and the need for the industry to be consolidated.

“Unlike before, the state has the burden of managing the sources of water while Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) is only concerned with supplying water to household for profit. There is no coordination,” said the Selangor mentri besar.

He said both the Federal and Selangor governments have recognized the need for both functions to be merged and controlled by the state.

However, Selangor and Putrajaya are at loggerheads over the price the state should pay to consolidate the management of water.

The Semenyih water treatment plant was closed yesterday following contamination of the raw water from Sungai Kembong through leachate from a landfill. It was reopened at 4pm the same day.

Khalid said that while the problem had been contained the state is mulling the possibility of closing the more than decade-old landfill.

“But closing it won’t solve the problem because we still have to remove the leachate from the landfill.”

In the meantime he said Worldwide Holdings Bhd, which operates the landfill, will have to spend RM3.5 million to fix the problem.

Earlier today Syabas in a statement said the plant operated by Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd was reopened after the ammonia level dropped to a safe level.

The closure affected 1.2 million consumers residents or 300,000 households throughout Petaling, Hulu Langat, Sepang and Kuala Langat districts.