Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) said this evening that five areas in Selangor will face water disruption as a result of the closure of the Semenyih water treatment plant.

Syabas chief operating officer Lee Miang Koi said the affected areas are Petaling involving 118,000 accounts, Hulu Langat (125,000), Sepang (65,000), Klang (19,000) and Kuala Langat (22,000).

NONE "The Semenyih water treatment plant managed by Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd had to be closed at 1.30pm today as the Semenyih River is feared to have been contaminated with palm oil.

"At the moment, Syabas is identifying areas that are expected to experience water disruption as a result of the plant's closure," Lee ( left ) said in a statement issued in Kuala Lumpur today.

Lee said Syabas had sent a letter to the Selangor government requesting for cooperation to provide water to consumers through tankers and static tanks, as the Semenyih treatment plant was under the state's management.

Also this evening, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui announced that the water supply disruption in Kuala Lumpur has begun to recover.

This followed the installation of a bypass pipe by Syabas, which was completed at 4am yesterday.

Chin: Supply to Gombak restored

Water supply to the affected areas in Gombak had been 100 percent restored, while in Kuala Lumpur, 85 per cent, Chin said.

"The remaining areas that are still experiencing water supply disruption are houses on higher ground, such as in Taman Shamelin and Bandar Sri Permaisuri.

"This is due to the steep rise in the demand of water in the newly recovered areas as the residents are still keen on storing as much water as possible for fear that the disruption will recur.

sarawak election bn sri aman dinner 120411 chin fah kui "The water supply to houses on higher ground, however, is expected to be fully restored by later tonight," Chin ( left ) said in a statement released in Putrajaya this evening.

To avoid a recurrence of the incident, he said, the National Water Service Commission had been instructed to study the proposal to upgrade the existing Wangsa Maju pump house, while waiting for the construction of the new pump house in the area to be completed in 2015.

Chin also called on the consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to alleviate the burden of residents in Gombak, Cheras and Pandan by reducing their water consumption.

"This way, the water supply saved can be channelled to the affected areas," he said.

The minister also expressed appreciation to the relevant quarters, including 950 Syabas personnel involved in ensuring that the water supply be restored as soon as possible and in distributing water through tanker lorries to the residents in the affected areas.

In Kuantan, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob said only Chin had the final say on the agreement on the raw water transfer project from Pahang to Selangor.

Pahang may charge more for water

Adnan said under the agreement, any decision, including scrapping the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant project, could only be made by the minister.

azlan "The price of 10 sen per cubic metre offered by Pahang will probably be raised if the Selangor government still dilly-dallies in giving its approval because under the agreement, the price can be raised every five years," he told reporters today.

In Shah Alam today, the Malay Economic Consultative Council called on the Selangor government to solve the water woes immediately.

Its secretary Halim Mohamad said this was because the council had been deluged with complaints from local traders in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur who had been facing difficulties to operate their businesses due to the water supply disruption.

"Although the problem has yet to reach the worrying stage, we want to ensure that it will not prolong," Halim a press conference.

A statement issued by the Press Secretariat of the Selangor Menteri Besar's Office today said the state government would release the latest information on efforts carried out to restore the water supply in the Klang Valley through several mainstream newspapers.

- Bernama