Ranhill’s Johor licence renewed
Unit will continue water services for three more years
PETALING JAYA: Ranhill Holdings Bhd, via subsidiary SAJ Ranhill Sdn Bhd, has renewed its licence as Johor’s exclusive water services operator for a three-year period.
The company said in a statement yesterday that the licence will commence from Jan 1, 2018 until Dec 31, 2020, adding that the renewal was recommended by Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (Span) and approved by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry.
“The approval was granted following a rigorous performance review, in compliance with Section 17 of the Water Service Industry Act 2006 and Section 7 of the Water Service Industry (Licensing) Regulation 2007.”
Ranhill, which builds, owns, and operates power plants and provides water supply services, said SAJ accounts for about 77% of the company’s total revenue and that the renewal is expected to contribute to SAJ as well as the group’s short and long-term growth.
“SAJ has been the sole provider of water supply services to the second most populous state in Malaysia since 1999, initially under a 30-year build-operate-transfer concession.
“In 2009, in line with the Government’s aspiration to promote policy objectives for water supply services through the establishment of a licensing and regulatory framework, SAJ voluntarily surrendered its concession and migrated to the new licensing regime.”
Ranhill said SAJ operates and maintains a combined production capacity of 1,986 million litres per day.
“It has reduced the state’s non-revenue water which stood at over 40% in 1999 to 24.7% at end-June 2017, with physical loss of only 15.4 cu m per km of pipe per day.
“SAJ’s operation cost of RM498,312 per 1,000 account up to November 2017 is well within the key performance indicator (KPI) target set by Span.”
In the same statement, Ranhill president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad said SAJ remains a key source of revenue for the group.
“Since we commenced operations nearly 20 years ago, SAJ has grown from strength to strength despite early challenges and we take pride in our ability to meet the stringent KPI requirements by Span.
“Having invested over RM1.6bil in SAJ during the early years, the group is committed to continue growing and strengthening our presence to supply water services in Johor.”
Moving forward, Hamdan said Ranhill expects to see rapid and sustained growth in Johor on the back of an annual increase in water consumption by 3.7% from new housing developments, rapid industrialisation and increased commercial activities.
“The group is confident that SAJ will continue to deliver a strong performance in the years to come,” he said.