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YOURSAY ‘Each side is holding the people of Klang Valley to ransom for political expediency.’

MB: Only 29 days of water left in Selangor

Bamboo: What a joke, Malaysia, a tropical country with plenty of rainfall, can’t give steady water supply to its citizens? This is incompetence and the result of stupid politicking at it's highest order!

In hindsight, Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has been overrated in running Selangor. Why did he wait six long years and the imminent political threat from PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to take concrete action on water supply in Selangor? And that's a dubious, one-sided non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BN?

FellowMalaysian: I urge MB Khalid Ibrahim to stop using politics and play with the lives of 6.7 million people. The situation is grim and worrisome but the authorities, including the state government, still haven't fallen off their beds. Instead, each side has its own devious agendas and excuses to account for their lackadaisical attitude.

The truth is each is holding the people of Klang Valley to ransom for sheer reasons of political expediency. If the late Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh could rise and speak to us one last time, his obvious advice would be 'don't play-play with the lives of the people'.

Clever voter: There we go again, same story, same excuses, same inconvenience. The reality is not about consumers not conserving this precious asset, but repercussions of a corrupt system that enriches a few and impoverishes the majority.

Anonymous_3e86: It's pointless to point fingers at others. Let's look at ourselves and ask ourselves if we had helped to conserve water during this rationing period. Many households have installed huge water tanks and hoarded water but have not reduced water consumption.

Water wastage continues because these huge water tanks have the capacity to store water that will last for three to four days. We need to be responsible in our water usage. Don’t waste.

Sarajun Hoda: The big question is what is the Selangor government doing about excess water from heavy rain outside catchment areas? Why are we not harvesting rain water in those areas and channelling them into reservoirs?

So much of this rain water is lost, and it even creates floods. Something is very wrong about how the Selangor government is planning and plotting long-term solutions.

Fair Play: Who knows? The prolonged drought (as an act of God) and the delay in resolving the water concessionaire issues (the act of mankind) could well do MB Khalid in.

Negarawan: Khalid, it's time to put on your Pakatan Rakyat hat, and not the old Umno hat. Situations like this require quick reformasi-style thinking, not subservient mentality as you had displayed in handling the "Allah" issue. We need to remind you that you are a Pakatan MB.

The Mask: Khalid, you still have not explained why Syabas has water to sell to tankers. You also have not given a reason why you are not buying water from Negri Sembilan. Finally why are all those steps mentioned above not implemented when Pakatan took over the state. If you have no foresight, then you are not fit to run the state.

MrM: Hello The Mask. The areas affected are far from Negri Sembilan. It makes no sense to pump water from so far. Secondly, yes, the government must always prepare for the future, but at the same time, this drought is not normal. It is an abnormal phenomena due to climate change.

How do you have foresight for something unexpected? Instead of finding new sources of water, we, Malaysians, should be making the effort to stop wasting water instead. No need to wash your car and car porch every week, for example.

Harvesting rain water is a good idea but it requires new infrastructure. It will be great if Selangor makes it mandatory for all new houses to include rainwater harvesting infrastructure. But in the mean time, for the current crisis, I don’t see how anything can be done. Pump water from the drains into the reservoir?

Onyourtoes: MB Khalid, is water rationing purely due to weather conditions? How much rain is considered sufficient to raise the level of water in the dam? We have heavy rain every day, but then you said it is in the wrong areas. Then you said there were leakages, and ammonia contamination.

You know, I am beginning to wonder whether we have made sufficient investment in catchment areas, water retention and distribution facilities in a highly populated area like the Klang Valley. Is it farfetched for me to say there may come a time when we have rain every day and yet water rationing must still be imposed?

Anonymous_3e86: Yet Umno fools want to stop the rationing but impose it in Perak. The rakyat need to do their part in conserving water. We need to be more responsible with water usage. We need to reduce wastage.

Only a cup of water is needed to brush our teeth. Cars and floors need not be washed every day. Use a bucket of water to wipe cars instead of using the hose. There are many ways to reduce water consumption. It's pointless to hoard water only to waste it on unnecessary chores. Let's be responsible. It will be a disaster for everyone if the dam ends up dry.

Alfanso: What sort of stupidity is this, for the menteri besar to threaten water rationing when the rainfall is plenty? They don't seem to know the science of water. So basic, yet foolish to keep the rakyat suffering. Get smart people to run the show, man.

Anonymous_3f6d: Sorry, gua tak caya sama lu (I do not believe you). Water rationing means more wastage - when the supply resumes, the water is dirty and we let the taps run for minutes and then the water in all those buckets will be discarded as it is dirty. So where is the savings?

Supercession: This is a shameful situation, whoever's fault it is. At the rate we're going, we might as well all leave the Klang Valley in an exodus and turn it into an uninhabitable wasteland.


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