IPOH – The Perak government has denied claims that sand-mining activities at Sg Perak had resulted in the movement of soil at the water treatment plant (WTP) intake at Teluk Kepayang, Bota, causing supply cuts.
A total of 79,360 water user accounts in the Manjung and Perak Tengah districts were affected by supply disruption on March 31.
“If there had been sand-mining activities, we could have identified it sooner. (The water supply disruption) was more due to soil movement which caused the embankment to burst and pressure to build up in the water pipes hidden behind the embankments,” said State Infrastructure, Energy, Water, and Public Transport executive councillor, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.
On April 1, an environmental activist claimed on Twitter that the raw water pipeline at the Teluk Kepayang WTP burst following sand-mining activities along Sg Perak.
Nizar, who was speaking when met today after an Aidilfitri aid programme at Dewan Carsem, Maju Rapat, assured that the incident would not recur especially ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which is expected to fall on April 22.
“We have carried out repairs and rehabilitation of structures specifically at the areas which had experienced water supply disruption,” he said.
On the programme today, the Sg Rapat assemblyman said 150 recipients from the B40 group received assistance in the form of vouchers worth RM150 each and boxes containing daily necessities.
“It is hoped that this little gesture will be able to help ease their burden in making preparations for Hari Raya,” he said. – Bernama, April 9, 2023
