Charles Santiago removed as SPAN chairman

PETALING JAYA: Charles Santiago has been removed as chairman of the National Water Service Commission (SPAN).

A letter dated April 10 by Environment Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man stated that the Klang MP had been removed as chairman of the commission under Section 11(1) of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655).

The section states that the minister may at any time revoke the appointment of any member of the commission, other than the chief executive officer, without giving any reason for the revocation.

Santiago, who was appointed as chairman in November 2018, uploaded the letter onto his Facebook page on Friday (April 17).

In a statement sent to the media, he said all the other commissioners had also been terminated from their positions.

He said Dungun MP Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli would replace him.

“Anyone who knows me will understand this is not about losing a fancy designation but rather the deep concern that all the hard work done over the last 18 months may possibly go to waste.

“My immediate response to the termination is to try and put in place a check-and-balance mechanism, which would allow the public to hold the new administration of SPAN accountable, ” he said.

He also listed several of his achievements in SPAN such as the internal restructuring of the commission, pushing for the commission to conduct special performance audits on water utilities, and pushing several anti-corruption initiatives.

He hoped that Wan Hassan and the new commissioners would continue SPAN’s ongoing transformation process and the urgent work required to safeguard the sustainability and security of our water supply in the long term.

“It’s important that, together, we lobby the Federal Government and state governments to channel more resources - funds and personnel - into monitoring and protecting our rivers and all other precious freshwater sources effectively.

“And as one voice, we need to call on the government to urgently gazette all our water catchment areas, ” said Santiago.