KULAI – The Environment and Water Ministry has so far received one complaint on water supply disruption from residents in Baling, Kedah following the current bout of hot weather, said minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
He said the supply disruption is expected to continue until the middle of next month.
“Kedah water utility company Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd will continue to deliver water to the affected residents through tankers right to their doorstep.
“There have been no complaints from other areas so far. The state water utility companies will monitor the situation and have water delivered if the need arises,” he told reporters at the handover of the first water access project at Kg Melayu, Seelong, Senai here today.
He said this commenting on measures taken by the government to address the drop in reservoir water level during the current bout of hot weather.
Tuan Ibrahim said the ministry has several contingency plans to ensure a continuous supply of water, among which is to increase the number of riverside reservoirs, or TAPS (Takungan Air Pinggiran Sungai), throughout the country.
“Our focus is on building TAPS close to water treatment plants to save costs, as water will be channelled directly from the rivers.
“At the same time, the ministry is also developing a water grading system to be able to sell better quality water at a reasonable price to suppliers,” he said.
“If water is graded under certain categories, it can be sold at double the price. This way, the state government will not only earn more revenue from water sales, but will also monitor raw water sources better,” he said, adding that the mechanism would be prepared by the middle of this year.
Meanwhile, commenting on the black patches detected in Sg Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang, Tuan Ibrahim did not rule out the possibility that the incident was the result of waste dumping from nearby factories.
However, he said the black patches had not resulted in odour pollution, with the water only turning black and murky in colour, and that the situation was under control.
On the water access project launched on December 17, he said it was one of five projects planned for residents experiencing untreated water supply problems.
He said four more projects would be handed over to recipients at the latest by April for the benefit of some 200 residents in Selangor, a surau in Perak, 100 residents in Pahang, and 200 residents in Negri Sembilan. – Bernama, March 8, 2021
