The agreement gave the federal government the green light to proceed with the project, which had been put on hold for the past five years.
The government claims the tunnel will meet the water needs of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya until 2025.
It will channel raw water — up to 1.8bn litres per day — from Sungai Semantan, Pahang, to a plant in Sungai Langat, which has the capacity to treat 1.1bn litres per day.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, who officiated the groundbreaking ceremony at the tunnel site in Hulu Langat on 27 February said the 44.6km tunnel stretch was expected to see its first drop of treated water by September.
However, he confirmed it would only become operational once the treatment plant was completed in the next 39 months.
"The tunnel is already 95 per cent complete. It is only the entry from the Pahang side and, of course, the two intakes.
"One is the damp and the actual intake station which should be completed by July," he said.
Ongkili said he had faith in the Selangor government’s leadership and predicted that the state would take over the four water concessionaires within the next three months.
"I am confident of the [government executive]’s leadership. The state government has big shares in three of these companies, it has 20 per cent of Syabas, it almost wholly owns Abbas and it also has shares in Splash. My job is to facilitate the project."
The tunnel is being built with a soft loan of MYR 2bn (USD 0.6bn) from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). There is a 40-year repayment period for the tunnel through the Titiwangsa mountain range.
