KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- The Forum Air Malaysia and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) are concerned with the delay in the conclusion of the negotiations between the Selangor government and private water concessionaires.

The Selangor government, which has minority shares in the concession, now wants to buy out the other partners and restructure the water treatment and delivery system, but the hitch is the quantum.

"This delay will greatly affect the water tariffs in the Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya," both organisations said in a statement to Bernama today.

The Forum Air Malaysia is an advisory body on consumer issues to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) while Fomca represents the interest of general consumers.

The statement was signed by both the Forum Air Malaysia and Fomca secretaries-general, Piarapakaran Subramaniam and Muhammad Shaani Abdullah respectively.

It noted that if the negotiations were not concluded by March 31 -- the dateline set by the federal government -- the water tariffs in the three territories would be raised by 37 per cent.

Since the negotiations had not been conclusive, SPAN had indicated that it would negotiate directly with the concessionaires to speed up the deal.

The state government has vehemently opposed the move.

-- BERNAMA