More than five million residents in the Klang Valley and Selangor will face a water shortage if the Selangor government continues to postpone the water restructuring process in the state.

Deputy Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Mahdzir Khalid said the current raw water reserve in Selangor was at 75 percent, and would deplete when used everyday.

“With the low water reserve margin in the Klang Valley, and raw water cannot be sourced, the Klang Valley will face acute water shortage.

“But if the water transfer from Pahang to Selangor can be completed, the problem can be addressed,” he told reporters in Kuala Nerang today.

Hence, Mahdzir said he hoped the Selangor government would give priority to the water restructuring process and agree to the proposals made by the federal government.

Yesterday, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili said the Langat 2 water treatment plant and its distribution system (LRAL2) project would not be ready as scheduled in 2017 due to the delay by the Selangor government in executing the state’s water supply industry restructuring agreement.

The minister said the restructuring exercise could not be fully resolved yet following the Selangor government’s failure to fulfil the conditions in the master agreement signed between the state government and federal government.

In fact, the Selangor government had deferred the gazetting of the remaining 23 plots of land applied for acquisition by the federal government for the project, he added.

- Bernama