Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin has taken Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), the Selangor government and the Energy, Green Technology, and Water Ministry to task for not resolving the water issue in her Ampang and Gombak area which has lasted 10 days. Besides the three entities, she also questioned the local council and the Fire and Rescue Services Department for not helping to resolve the issue.

NONE Describing the water disruption as a “national issue”, Zuraida (left) , who is also PKR Wanita head, said this had resulted in the disruption of family functions during such a prolong period.

She claimed that she had visited the Syabas pump in Wangsa Maju on Jan 3, where upon asking the Syabas officers, they said that four of the five pumps are already working.

“However, Syabas claimed the next day that only two of the pumps are functioning. This should not be the case as Syabas should prepare or have back-up plans to rectify the situation.

“Is the Syabas facility poorly-maintained, resulting in this problem? It should have a first world culture mentality to ensure proper maintenance. Syabas should have a contingency plan to resolve this. At the same time, the Selangor government should have become involved and the ministry should investigate the matter,” she said.

It was previously reported that there had been water disruption in parts of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor since Dec 29. Syabas had also said they were having problems with the Wangsa Maju water pumps and also faulty water pumps at the Pudu Hulu Baru.

Zuraida said Syabas had confirmed a meeting with her on Thursday at 10.30am for her to get to know the problem.

She said as a result of the prolonged water disruption, families find it difficult to cook and do their laundry, and this has disrupted family functions, especially in areas where the lower-income families are staying.    

“This matter has to be resolved immediately so as not to burden the people further. Whatever the claims of differences between the Selangor government and Syabas (regarding payment) is not the issue here, as they should resolve the water supply issue first,” he said.

Khalid: Pumps were not running at overcapacity

Meanwhile, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who visited the Wangsa Maju plant yesterday, dismissed claims made by Syabas that all the pumps there are running at overcapacity and that the state government is not going to the ground in resolving the issue.

“Such claims are incorrect as the Selangor state water supply monitoring committee found that throughout 2012, there were only 18 days where the pumps had operated beyond its capacity of 200 litres a day. Checks reveal that on average the output of water is 182.20 million litres a day.

“Hence, we cannot accept the reason given by Syabas as the company should find the five pumps to be operational and properly maintained. The company has to ensure that they are properly maintained as this is based on the standard operating procedure,” he said.

Khalid said the committee visited the Wangsa Maju plant on Jan 2 and found four of the five pumps to be non-operational, while maintenance work was being done on the other.

The committee found that the faulty pump which is being maintained had not been operational since last year as there were no spare parts.

Khalid expressed regret that Syabas had used the Langat 2 water processing plant issue with regard to this water disruption, whereas it is not related at all as there is ample water but the problem has been magnified by poor maintenance.

Accompanying Khalid in yesterday’s visit were Selangor state secretary Khusrin Munawi, Selangor Perangsang group chief executive officer Suhaimi Kamarulzaman and Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd director Abas Abdullah.