FOMCA VERY CLEAR ON WATER PRIVATISATION

T Indrani
Mar 27, 06 4:40pm

Fomca thanks A concerned consumer for following so closely the work of Fomca and rightly so. We are pleased that the writer has had the opportunity to read the two books by Fomca where Fomca clearly and consistently states our position against water privatisation. Hence, Fomca’s involvement in the Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP).

With regards to Fomca being ‘murky’ in our memorandum submitted to the ministry in response to the two water bills, Fomca can perhaps deduce that the writer was present at the coalition’s public consultation in February, when Fomca had circulated the two mentioned books on privatisation and a table summary of Fomca’s recommendations on the proposed bills.

Fomca was not able to print the 90-odd page memorandum for the more than 200 participants which included an introduction that clearly states our position on water privatisation and its relationship to the two water bills, the substantive recommendations and a table of all the recommendations.

It also highlighted our concern that the bill was promoting full-cost recovery and that the bills are not acceptable in their current form. The writer can go to Fomca’s website to view the full English and Bahasa Malaysia versions of the memorandum.

On the minister’s statement about Fomca distancing itself, Fomca would like to suggest to the writer to refer to a malaysiakini report where the minister did not refer to Fomca distancing itself from the substantive issue of privatisation but rather on the collective stand of CAWP in totally rejecting the two bills (as Fomca had submitted its recommendations to the ministry in January this year).

Fomca is firmly of the view that while it is consistent on its stand against privatisation, it also has a responsibility as a public organisation to ensure that consumer protection elements are incorporated into the proposed bills when they are tabled and debated in Parliament.

Which is why Fomca spent a laborious two months to refer to water laws in South Africa, Australia, the UK and Scotland and draw up the recommendations which have been incorporated into the memorandum as a reference for the ministry’s consideration.

The writer is Fomca’s chief executive officer.