The prolonged dry spell has taken its toll on the country’s wettest town, Taiping, and the nearby Kamunting as they will undergo a two-week water rationing from tomorrow.

Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir said although it had been raining in Taiping of late, the three-month dry spell had depleted water supply at the Ayer Kuning Dam and Taiping Headworks water treatment plant.

He said the rain enabled Taiping Headworks to churn out 31 million litres of treated water daily from 21 million litres daily before, but the water level at the Ayer Kuning Dam was still low.

As the Ayer Kuning Dam capacity had dropped to 48 per cent and could last for only 25 days, it had to release lower supply of untreated water to Taiping Headworks, he told reporters at the state assembly in Ipoh today.

Brushing aside the opposition’s claim that the water crisis was due to Lembaga Air Perak’s (LAP) poor water management, Zambry said the water woes would lessen if the anticipated monsoon in April brought heavy rain to Taiping and Kamunting.

He said water rationing in Taiping and Kamunting would affect 23,719 or three percent of 710,000 LAP account holders.

Zambry said LAP would not deploy tankers or provide static tanks except for security and health services as water would be supplied on a two-day-on, two-day-off basis.

LAP Taiping’s operations room and complaints centre can be contacted at 05-891 1437 or toll free line 1-800-88-7788.

Complaints can be emailed to aduanadmin@lap.com.my while the situation could be followed on LAP website www.lap.com.my, Facebook and Twitter.

- Bernama