State water authority to provide rebates for Penang schools: Chow

GEORGE TOWN – Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has directed the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) to offer a six-month rebate to schools here following the implementation of new tariffs for non-domestic water consumers this year.

“The projected total value of the rebate (available to all schools in the state) is RM 2.1 million, and the schools need to be registered,” Chow said.

“All registered schools in Penang (government, private, international, colleges, religious schools and kindergartens) may apply for rebate,” he said in a statement.

Chow said that the rebate is valid from this month until September.

School administrators must apply for the rebate from PBAPP before September 30.

Application forms may be downloaded online from the PBAPP website.

“The state government made this decision as a gesture of goodwill to maintain and support good relationships with the 1,712 schools in Penang which provide primary and secondary education to thousands of young Penangites daily.

“This federal regulation reviewed tariffs for non-domestic water consumption and clearly states that water consumption in schools must be billed as ‘non-domestic consumption’,” he explained.

Similar federal regulations were also gazetted concurrently on July 29, 2022 to be implemented in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Terengganu and Labuan.

“As such, it should be clear that the (previous) federal government gazetted new water tariffs for ‘non-domestic consumption’ not only for Penang, but for all the states in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.

“It should also be clear that it was the (previous) federal government that had set and approved regulations which defined water consumption in schools as ‘non-domestic consumption’, and not PBAPP or the state government.

“Nevertheless, in consideration of grievances raised by school authorities, PBAPP agreed to bear the cost of a rebate for schools as another aspect of its corporate social responsibility commitment to Penang.

“The projected cost of this rebate totals RM2.1 million,” he said.

PBAPP is also maintaining Penang’s average domestic water tariff for the first 35,000 litres per month at RM0.32 per 1,000 litres in 2023.

“This is the lowest domestic water tariff in Malaysia and one of the lowest in Asia.”

The average domestic tariff is heavily subsidised.

In 2022, the total domestic tariff subsidy borne by PBAPP amounted to RM103.7 million, which benefited 585,740 households in Penang.

“As such, due credit must be given to PBAPP for continuing to serve Penang as a leading water supply operator in Malaysia,” he added. – The Vibes, April 16, 2023