YOURSAY ‘It’s Syabas’ responsibility to monitor water levels and plan for emergencies.’

S'gor move to hit 3mil people, warns Syabas

Bobster: Non-revenue water, also known as wastage and leakage, amounts to over 35 percent whereas the United Nations’ recommendation is not more than 25 percent.

Malaysia, one of the wettest tropical countries with rainfall among the highest in the world, is in crisis after merely one month without rainfall.

This is stupidity of the highest order. Even laypersons on the street know poor management, coupled with leakages, are the main reasons for this situation.

Syabas is trying to play politics with water. Shame on you. Stop calling yourselves Malaysians.

The Mask: "Syabas cannot come up with a contingency plan for such a large scale on so short a notice," said Syabas executive director (technical development) V Subramaniam.

Subramaniam, you must have been sleeping all this while. You mean you only came to know about the water crisis recently?

And that after 50 years in management, you have no contingency plan for such a crisis? Real stupid.

!Straight talk Joe 51: What a joke! Short notice given, and that's the reason for Syabas not being able to come up with a contingency plan?

But you admitted that water is low and water rationing is needed but you take no initiative to put forward a crisis plan?

When someone woke you up, you said that you don't have enough time to plan ahead.

Joker: Syabas, the state government is being proactive and doing the job for you while you are sleeping. It is your responsibility to monitor the water levels and plan for emergencies.

The water levels did not drop because Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim implemented the rationing plan; it is because there is no water that the MB is implementing rationing.

Syabas itself recognises that water level is low and yet it has no contingency plan ready. And the low water level is not only in Selangor. It is due to the dry season. Manage your company well before dabbling in politics.

Syabas is supposed to reduce non-revenue water before being rewarded with higher water tariffs. Syabas has borrowed loans and enjoyed high tariffs, but all its windfall is only for paying their ridiculously expensive boss.

Curi Satu Malaysia: Subramaniam said the water concessionaire could not come up with a large-scale contingency plan at such short notice. What an absurd excuse.

Syabas, as the distribution company entrusted with the livelihood of Selangor, has no contingency plan for water distribution and this has forced MB Khalid to intervene.

Is there an ulterior agenda to put the Selangor government's neck on the chopping block? A similar attempt last year was foiled by sudden heavy rain. Where is the cloud seeding as promised?

If the water rationing starts, it is only Syabas that has to be blamed. Selangorians trust Khalid more than Syabas.

Wira: I cannot understand why there is no contingency plan by the water supply authority (water supply company in the case of privatised water supply in Selangor) for water rationing when dam levels are falling fast.

You don't start making a plan when a disaster is looming. You ought to have a contingency plan as part of your standard operating procedure.

Che: "Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

Malaysia has an average rainfall much higher than most parts of the world. We have monsoon rain and we have floods. True, we have our dry spells but this should not be a problem if we manage our water resources properly.

Syabas is the provider and manager of our water resources. Ruslan Hassan is the CEO of Syabas and if his salary of RM450,000 (yes, per month) is anything to go by then he should be managing Syabas very efficiently.

So how is that we may soon find ourselves in a situation where we have water everywhere and yet not a drop to drink? Because Ruslan is not managing Syabas; he is using Syabas to play politics, playing it to the tune of his Umno master.

This is totally immoral and inhumane. It is also a political suicide as it is playing with people's life.

A humble advice Dato' and your colleagues in Syabas: please google ‘Chris Christie and the bridge closure in New Jersey’ . It's not too late to learn.

Ferdtan: Che is right. Water is everywhere but not enough for all Malaysians. As a layperson, I find it hard to understand.

Water conservation, an over-rated issue, is trendy issue by foreign and local intellectuals - but we are living in the region where water is so abundant and free.

We are talking about raw water and not treated product here. It is understandable if you live in Middle East where sometimes there is no rain the whole year round. It is not the raw material (raw water) at fault but the administration and policy of our government.

With proper planning and efficient water policy more treatment plants can be built. Raw water catchments areas (if not destroyed in the name of development) should be protected.

We need a pro-active policy here. Rainwater and water which flows out of catchments areas is channelled (lost) to lakes, rivers and oceans. I dare to say we will never be run out of rain water (raw material) - at least not in Malaysia.

Rainwater cannot be depleted unlike our petroleum. Of course, I am not advocating the excess use of water - any wastage is wrong. If petroleum in Malaysia has never run out in our country (not yet) before, why, we ask, not our water?

The stark difference is the profit element; we cannot make much profit with our water.

A friend once told me that his company, an industrial gas producer, made a lot of money producing products like liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide.

He laughed when he said that their raw material, the air we breathe, is free. Imagine producing products out of thin air!

Whatsup: Can't come out with such a large-scale contingency plan within a short notice? Can't or won't?

Then why the need to pay the CEO millions in salary when he and all those running the company didn't see the need to have any contingency plan? Impossible - they are lying through their teeth.

They are Umno cronies - out to make life difficult for residents and who knows, now they can say - I told you so that Langat 2 water project is needed. So convenient right?

Haven't we seen such coincidences before? Let's hope they have an ounce of conscience left in them not to commit such inhumane acts, then again, we may never know...

Rahman: The Selangor government created this emergency situation with its announcement. The state should have left it to Syabas to advise it on the water situation.

Let Syabas solve the crisis with Span (National Water Services Commission). Why has Khalid created this crisis? To kill opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in Kajang?

SAM98: Rahman, maybe you should say the Selangor government manufactured the dry weather as well.

Pisasu 7: Rahman, oh Rahman, Subramaniam of Syabas has said they have no contingency plans yet, so you can see these chaps are not good in risk management, while their big bosses want the Langat 2 water project to make more money.

SelangorKita: Water has been the source of many wars and disputes between countries, e.g. the Nile and Mekong rivers flow through several countries.

Now in Bolehland the federal government has privatised all these assets and given them to their cronies. The Syabas boss is a lawyer by profession and is paid millions of ringgit in salary.

The Selangor government is a minority shareholder in Syabas and therefore cannot do anything as Syabas is controlled by an Umnoputera. Now they get bolder and bolder and literally tell Selangor “to go fly kites".

Haveagreatday: The only thought that comes to mind is ‘Gajah sama gajah berperang, semut mati di tengah’. (Elephants fight, while ants caught in the middle die).

The politicians should make sure the rakyat's welfare is given top priority instead of scoring brownie points with each other.

SpongeBob: Syabas is more concerned about losing its revenue, rather than solving the problem of low water levels at the dams.

War Child: I am a Selangor resident and I urge fellow residents to condemn Syabas. This is definitely the down side of the privatisation of Selangor water by the Mahathir regime.

I miss the excellent service of the Penang Water Board which managed to stay independent of the federal government for many years.

Nil: There must always be a contingency plan made during the good times, for use when crisis strikes - you do not make that plan when you’re already in trouble.

Anonymous_40f4: Syabas has been playing politics with water for far too long. Syabas bills the consumers for water so it’s obligatory for Syabas to assure uninterrupted water supply.

If they can’t, then Syabas should hand back the water supply to the Selangor government and get lost.

Syabas holds S'gor to ransom with incompetence

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