The government is in the midst of developing a joint billing system for water and sewerage bills with a sewerage company, Indah Water Konsortium, in order to make the services more efficient.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili said the matter has been discussed in the cabinet since June this year.

“We (the government) expect to implement this system in Labuan by January next year, as our pilot project,” he told a press conference after delivering his keynote address at the 2nd Malaysian National Sewerage Conference 2015 in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said if the system works according to plan after the implementation in Labuan, the ministry plans to expand it to other bigger cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

The new joint billing system, which is also similar to that in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, would enable IWK to collect its fees more efficiently, he said.

As of July 2015, IWK manages about 7,000 sewerage treatment plants with the costs of operation and maintenance of each plant at between RM1 million to RM3 million.

“The costs are a financial burden to the service provider as the sewerage tariff collection is much lower than the operating costs,” he said in his speech.

IWK is charging each household RM8 monthly in sewerage fees although the initial cost is RM200, he added.

- Bernama