Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has conceded that the state does indeed need the Langat 2 water treatment plant, but the state's priority for now is on reducing non-revenue water (NRW).

 

Addressing the state legislative assembly yesterday, Khalid said Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) needs to reduce NRW from 30 percent to about 15 to 20 percent to prevent a water crisis.

 

He pointed out that Selangor is not expected to face a water shortage until 2014, as total water usage in Selangor was between 3 to 3.5 billion litres a day, well below the output of 4.6 to 4.8 billion litres a day.

 

“Basically, if all of the treated water reaches households,there will not be a water problem and a water shortage.

 

“But the problem is that 30 percent (of output) is lost through NRW. We can only overcome this issue if the NRW percentage is reduced to 20 to 15 percent, as in the concession agreement with Syabas.

"(On whether) there is a need for Langat 2, the answer is: Yes. But we need to figure its valuable to the state's economy. We must examine the cost, and agree on our estimates because it will be funded by the people of Selangor," he said.

 

Khalid was responding to questions from Shahrum Mohd Sharif (BN-Dengkil) at the Selangor state assembly.

 

Since 2008, the Khalid-administration had put on hold Putrajaya's plans to build Langat 2, which is aimed at treating water channelled from Pahang .

 

The Khalid administration would only agree to Langat 2 if Putrajaya allows the state to acquire water assets , namely Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, Syabas, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor (Splash) and Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd (ABBAS).

 

The rationale behind this was to allow the state government to restructure the state's water supply industry to prevent water tariffs from rising.