Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted the claim by “irresponsible” quarters that the state will raise the water conservation surcharge (WCS) by 100 percent.

He reiterated that there is no increase in the tariff but that those who waste water - 28 percent (or 130,000) of the 461,000 domestic users - will have to pay for this.

lim guan eng interview 160813 01 "We did not raise the water tariff - only the surcharge for water wastage ... Those who do not waste water have nothing to fear," he told a press conference today.

"They (opponents) are making all these allegations probably because they lost in the last general election and the rakyat have rejected them.”

The WCS does not cover commercial users, who already pay almost double the current household tariff.

Lim noted that individual household water consumption has risen to a "very worrying" level, to 300.2 litres daily.

This exceeds the national rate of 210 litres by about 50 percent, he said, while the international rate is only 100 litres per household.

"We want Penang to lead, but not in water wastage," he said tongue in cheek.

water paips Lim said he has also been criticised by NGOs who prefer a higher water surcharge to be imposed in order to prevent water from being wasted.

"I tell them, never mind, the state is implementing the move in the hope that people will learn to save water, a precious natural resource," he added.

Over the weekend, newly-appointed Penang Federal Action Council chairperson Zainal Abidin Othman had said the state government was being "arrogant and cruel" when it approved a 100 percent increase in the WCS.

Zainal, also the state Umno liaison chief, was referring to the announced increase from 24 sen to 48 sen per litre for household consumption of water that exceeds 35,000 litres a month.

Last week, the  Penang Water Supply Corporation had said this would take effect from Sept 1.