SHAH ALAM – The Selangor government does not intend to provide rebates to consumers despite the rampant water cuts experienced in the state, because of the high cost in implementing such a policy.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said although the matter has been brought up for discussion, funds derived from rebates will be better utilised to address water pollution and prevent such incidents from recurring.
“If we are going to spend big, might as well we do it to prevent pollution from happening. If we provide discounts, it’s as if we are giving in to fate that pollution will not happen again. And each time we have to bear rebate costs.
“This won’t address the issue of the water woes here. For us, it’s best that we try to avoid pollution from even happening,” he said in a press conference here today.
According to Amirudin, a rebate of RM2 per household alone could cost the state government as much as RM4 million, an amount he said could be used to hire more enforcement officers on the ground to monitor factories and rivers.
He also dismissed claims that the government has not done anything to address repeated water pollution, saying rivers are already being monitored on a 24-hour basis by state authorities.
He said the state needed more manpower.
Amiruddin was asked if the state plans to provide discounts to the millions of people who have experienced unscheduled water cuts.
This comes after yet another supply disruption on Monday when four water treatment plants were forced to halt operations following the detection of odour pollution in Sg Selangor.
Amirudin said since the start of the year, the state has recorded eight incidences of water pollution, three of which took place this month, as opposed to seven last year.
On the ongoing supply disruption due to the odour pollution, Amirudin said water supply has been restored to some 90% of households in the state.
“It is expected that all 1.2 million accounts will have their water restored latest by tomorrow,” he said.
Asked whether he believed the recent pollution incidents had to do with political sabotage, Amiruddin said: “I don’t want to jump into conclusion, but I won’t rule it out. Let the authorities conduct their investigation into the matter first.” – The Vibes, October 21, 2020
