2014 has been a roller coaster year for most of us in Malaysia as we are being struck by the rare drought and also water crisis in most of the states in peninsular Malaysia. Some of the major disruptions were caused by untreated sewerage that flowed into the rivers and forced water treatment plants to shut down.

While the finger-pointing game is still happening, we have yet to truly realise the importance of the connection between water and sanitation.

In 2010, the United Nations had passed a resolution which stated that access to water and sanitation is one of the most important rights for the realisation of all human rights. Water and sanitation must be given equal priority by all stakeholders! Thus, in order to increase the awareness on the importance of a sound sanitation, the United Nation has gazetted Nov 19 as World Toilet Day.

In Malaysia, while the sanitary services are provided and being charged to the consumers and governed by Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (Span), the collection or the return from the sewerage bill is still very low and cause the biggest sewerage concessionaire to continue to face losses year by year due to the ever increasing operating cost in the sewerage industry.

We have seen numerous advertisements and campaigns being organised in order to increase the sewerage bill collection.

However at the end of the day, millions being spent and yet the result is disappointing. When sewerage pollution caused unforeseen water disruption, the most common reason or excuse to get away with is lack of money to manage the sewerage sector well

What is the main problem in Malaysia? Are Malaysia consumer not being educated well enough to even pay for the service that they are enjoying? Or are they just being ignorant?

How about the service provider? Are they doing a great job in making sure that with the existing sewerage infrastructure they can also provide sound services to the consumer? Is it sustainable for a sewerage company owned by the Finance Ministry to be assisted with millions of ringgit year by year in order to keep the operation running?

Forum Air Malaysia feels that cooperation between all stakeholders is the key in order to improve the sewerage sector in Malaysia. By setting up achievable targets and a sound regulatory framework in the sewerage sector will be the catalysts fuelled with the participation of all stakeholders.

All efforts must be done in a transparent way where all information is being disseminated to the consumer through continuous engagement and education on the importance of a sound sanitation and sewerage sector.

Let’s voice out and take action while we can. Happy World Toilet Day 2014!