Penang Gerakan has slammed Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over his proposal to raise the water tariff for the state to address the problem of high water consumption in the midst of dry spells affecting the country.

State Gerakan secretary Oh Tong Keong described Lim as practising double standards and “swallowing his own words”.

“In his 2014 New Year message this year, the CM had proudly announced that the state government has not increased quit rent, water tariff, assessment nor business licence rates for this year and next year,” Oh said in a statement.

“DAP leaders cried foul when the federal government exercised subsidy rationalisation but when Pakatan Rakyat state governments increase water rates, even during an economic downturn, it is a rational and reasonable decision,” Oh ( left ) mocked.

“To suit his own taste, Lim would tell Penangites that the water tariff for Penang is still the lowest in the country,” he said, describing the CM as a hypocrite.

But Lim forgot that it was the previous Barisan Nasional state government, with proper planning and farsightedness, that enabled Penang people to enjoy a cheaper water tariff than other states, Oh noted.

At a press conference today, Lim dismissed Gerakan’s statement, saying, “I will only address the public and not political interests.”

He was referring to his statement yesterday that the state has accepted the Penang Water Supply Corporation’s proposal to study the matter and the decision on the water tariff will be announced by this year, after obtaining approval from the National Water Commission, under the federal government.

He said the Penang government’s priority is to avoid any water rationing, and to implement effective water supply and demand management.

“To avoid water rationing, we have to do both supply and demand management right. We can’t just do one right because we will not succeed (in conserving water),” he said.

Lim said for the last six years, the focus had been on water supply management to address the need of Penang’s growing population and accelerated development progress, which is more than in the previous 18 years under the BN administration.

This is proven by Penang’s non-revenue water rate of 17.6 percent, the lowest in the country, as compared to the national average of 36.4 percent, Lim explained.

“Because of this, any water rationing would be disastrous, not only for residents but the business community,” Lim said.

He said the Penang Water Corporation or PBAPP has been efficient in meeting the growing needs of the population from 800 million litres capita per day (l/c/d) in 2007 to 1.035 billion l/c/d this year.

“But there must also be efficient water demand management because there can only be so much water sources,” he added.

Water demand management focus on pricing, water saving features and education but the last two approaches have failed, he said.

Last increase was 21 years ago

The state government had opted not to increase water tariff and the last was in 1993, 21 years ago, he noted.

“But the failure of education and imposition of water surcharge, has resulted in Penang recording the highest water consumption which is 50 percent more than the national average,” he said.

“Such high water consumption is just not sustainable and if left unchecked, we will have to do water rationing in future,” he added.

Lim said climate change will lead to a prolonged draught this year and this may recur annually for an extended period of five years.

He cited a report by the Asian Meteorological Centre based in Singapore which stated there would be lower rainfall in April and May, followed by a dry spell in the next five months.

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do?” he asked.

“If such a situation repeats next year, we will be forced to do water rationing, we have to think of all steps and all measures,” he added.

He reminded that not only Selangor and Johor are carrying out water rationing but also Taiping, Perak, which is the wettest area in the peninsula.

He said Penangites have no choice but to reduce water consumption and if increasing water tariff can lower water consumption, the state government will bite the bullet and raise water tariffs.

However, he stressed that even after increasing the tariff, Penangites will still enjoy the cheapest rate in the country as PBAPP has subsidised nearly RM70 million last year to maintain the lowest domestic tariff rate in country.

“We are compelled to take this step to raise water tariffs for the sake of our children so that we can avoid water rationing in later years,” Lim said.

“In terms of water supply management we are best in the country, in water demand we are the worst. Why? Because our waters tariffs are too low,” he quipped.

Penang’s water tariff is RM0.31 for first 35,000 litres per month compared to the national average of RM0.66.

However, Penang has the highest domestic water consumption rate of 311 l/c/d while the national average is 212 l/c/d.