ADUN SPEAKS A burst pipe along Jalan Universiti on Monday afternoon not only caused a traffic jam but sparked public anger over the amount of water being wasted. The last thing we need when we are experiencing water rationing is a burst pipe that gushes out the precious water that is supposed to flow through our taps.

This incident serves as a reminder to all of us on the need to replace the old pipes in Syabas’s water distribution network. As of now, out of every 100 drops of treated water fed into the water distribution network, only 67 drops reach the taps of the households, meaning that 33 drops of non-revenue water (NRW) are wasted through pipe leakages and water theft.

Despite receiving repeated financial assistance from the federal government in the name of NRW reduction, Syabas’s NRW still lingers at 33 percent. Since 2009 until 2013, Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, which hold a 70 percent share of Syabas, has received a total of around RM700 million financing at favuorable rates from the federal government.

If the financial assistance given to Syabas were to be spent on replacing old pipes instead of paying its CEO and directors handsomely, we would have been able to reduce the NRW quite significantly. The total investment needed to reduce NRW by 20 percent, from 33 percent to 13 percent in four years is RM540 million.

With a better NRW*, current water rationing might not be needed or even if it’s needed, it might not be as huge and as long. The much undesirable burst pipe during water rationing would not have happened.

While spending on capital expenditure to replace old pipes is important, in whose hands the money is entrusted to, is equally important. History has shown us that Syabas is the wrong hand for the money.

Therefore, the first step of water restructuring is the taking over of water assets, which can be done through a direct buyout of the water concessionaires or the federal government invoking Section 114 of Water Services Industry Act (WASIA) for forced takeover.

We hope that through the water restructuring exercise, the water security of the people of Selangor can be guaranteed with reasonable and affordable water tariffs in the future.   

* Note: Calculation of total investment of NRW reduction: i. the cost of NRW reduction is about US$500 per cubic metre reduced per day, as recommended by the World Bank ii. NRW reduction generates saving from reduced cost in water treatment and water distribution (less water lost = less water need to be treated and distributed).

YEO BEE YIN is Damansara Utama state assemblyperson.