Ranhill renews Johor water concession for three years

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KUALA LUMPUR: Ranhill Holdings Bhd's unit, SAJ Ranhill Sdn Bhd, has renewed its licence as the exclusive water services operator for Johor for three years starting from Jan 1, 2018.

Ranhill said in a press statement that the approval was granted by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water following a performance review. 

"As SAJ accounts for approximately 77% of Ranhill's total revenue, the renewal is expected to contribute to SAJ as well as the Group’s short- and long-term growth," it said,

SAJ has been the sole provider of water supply services to Johor since 1999, initially under a 30-year Build-Operate-Transfer concession, which was surrendered in 2009 following the government's move towards a new licensing regime.

"Since the migration to a licensing regime, SAJ has demonstrated consistency and reliability in fulfilling the KPIs set by SPAN. Moreover, SAJ is in full compliance with meeting the KPI to reduce water loss or Non-Revenue Water (NRW) in Johor with the lowest NRW per kilometre of pipe in Malaysia," said Rahhill president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad. 

"Moving forward, we expect 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."