Following the worsening water crisis in the Klang Valley, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Langat and Klang, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) has proposed water rationing in the said areas.       

Syabas will present its proactive action plan on the matter to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) next week.  

Syabas chief executive officer Ruslan Hassan said the plan was necessary to resolve the water crisis affecting the three districts, based on complaints by its residents.

He expressed confidence that the plan would be acceptable to them after the repeated problems they had been facing lately.  

"If it's approved by SPAN, Syabas will ration water in the affected districts. We'll inform the residents before doing so," he said during a press conference at a housing estate in Taman Sungai Besi Indah today.  

        

According to him, 125,075 factory, house and shop accounts in Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Langat and Klang experienced frequent water disruptions.

Ruslan confirmed that Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were already experiencing a water crisis due to demand exceeding the production capacity of its water treatment plants, disruptions and low water pressure lately.   

"The spike in demand caused water levels to dip sharply at several main reservoirs because existing clean water reserves are less than three percent.

"The ensuing low water pressure disrupted supply to some areas such as Petaling, Klang, Kuala Lumpur and Hulu Langat involving 209,678 accounts, affecting about half a million residents," he explained.

Based on accurate forecasts

The situation warranted several treatment plants to experience stress when they operated at full capacity or exceeded their capacity to meet demands, he said.   

Since last month, demand for treated water was at 4,349 million litres a day although the combined capacity from all 34 treatment plants was only 4,371 million litres a day.

Ruslan emphasised that the situation was critical because demand for treated water clearly exceeded the capacity of the plants' design.

He stressed that the facts issued by Syabas were based on accurate forecasts and the company was prepared to reveal any information necessary on the crisis for the sake of the consumers.  

"This is in line with the responsibility entrusted to Syabas to supply water to consumers, as contained in the concession agreement," he added.

The media had previously reported that about 1.8 million consumers in several areas in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya would experience a water crisis if the Raw Water Supply Project from Pahang to Selangor, and the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant were not completed by 2014.   

Ruslan urged the Selangor and Central governments to urgently discuss the construction of the Langat 2 plant as scheduled.   

"I hope this discussion would produce results. If the project is implemented immediately, it will take at least four years to complete. And water demand would keep rising with an increasing population, at the same time," he concluded.   

‘All fingers point at Syabas’

In an immediate response, Selangor cabinet member Dr Xavier Jayakumar said that the Langat 2 project has got nothing to do with the "water crisis" as the new treatment plant has been planned to be operational only in 2014.

“So if Syabas now says there is a water crisis in Selangor, all fingers are pointed at them. Syabas is the sole water distributor in Selangor,” said the exco.

According to Jayakumar, this is an example of a private company is willing do to the people of Selangor “when they have the absolute monopoly to distribute and supply water”.

“The cronyism at play here is quite clear. It is highly irresponsible of the Minister for Energy, Green Technology and Water, Peter Chin Fah Kui and Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Noh Omar to suggest that the state allow Langat 2 to be built first and discuss water tariff hikes later!

“We as the state government owe a duty to the rakyat of Selangor. Why waste RM8.65 billion of public funds, and allow a potential water tariff hike of up to 70 percent when the water level in the seven dams in Selangor are full to the brim and overflowing,” said Jayakumar.

S'gor urged to be pragmatic in facing water issue