THE state government, through the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP), has over the years taken various initiatives to ensure water security for Penang and tried not to fully rely on raw water source from Sungai Muda.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also the PBAPP chairman, said this is important to avoid any water disruption in the state.
“We have never kept quiet about this. We always try to do something to ensure water security in the state, such as building additional water treatment plants, setting up pump houses and implementing various other projects.
“These include our medium and long-term plans such as Raw Water Contingency Plan 2030 (RWCP 2030) and Penang Water Supply Initiative 2050 (PWSI 2050) projects to ensure water supply security for Penang.
“We have also proposed and pursued the SPRWTS project as one of the solutions since 11 years ago.
“But unfortunately until today, we have not managed to get the support we needed from the Federal Government and also the Perak government.
“And as we can see it now, our greatest fear has been proven right by this incident (water crisis issue) that we are facing now,” Chow told a press conference when giving an update on the state’s water issue in Komtar today.
Also present were PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa and state Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari.
On Wednesday (July 6), thousands of households in the state were left without water because the Sungai Dua WTP had to be shut down due to the extreme turbidity of Sungai Muda, caused by floodwater from Baling, after the district was inundated on Monday (July 4).
Chow added that this incident was an eye-opener on the need for an alternative raw water source for Penang.
“I would like to urge the Federal Government and the relevant ministries to look into speeding up the matter.
“We need an alternative raw water supply to complement Sungai Muda or else this incident might happen again,” he added.
According to Chow, PBAPP has been recognised as the best water supply company in the country and all the medium and long-term planning confirmed that.
“However, some of the projects that we want to implement fall under the Federal Government and other state governments’ jurisdiction and so, we need cooperation from all parties.
“They should not neglect us. As a matter of fact, the Federal Government should play its part to facilitate the process and be responsible.
“Now, we can see what our ministers (in the relevant ministries) are doing. They have such a big crisis in one of the important states in the country and they don’t take any action.
“This is not right, and they should show some leadership role in this matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jaseni said PBAPP has projected that the water supply issue in Penang is expected to be fully resolved by tomorrow morning (July 9).
“The treated water production capacity at the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (Sungai Dua WTP) has already reached an optimal level of 100 per cent or an average of 988 million litres per day (MLD).
“And as of 10am today, water supply services for about 80% of Penang’s registered water consumers affected by Sungai Dua WTP shutdown have been normalised.
“However, consumers in end-of-line (EOL) and on higher ground areas throughout Penang, such as Gelugor and Teluk Kumbar areas, may have to wait a little bit longer for water supply to reach their premises at normal pressures.
“PBAPP has also deployed water tankers to these areas until they can fully recover.
“And we expect by tomorrow morning, we can fully resolve the water supply issue. This is our reasonable timeline based on the current situation right now.
“I would like to urge the in-house contractors and high-rise building management operators to ensure their internal system is functioning to cope with the surge in pressure when supply is restored in stages,” Jaseni said.
Jaseni added that to prevent such incident from happening again, the Kedah state government must quickly gazette the Ulu Muda catchment area as a fully protected forest reserve boundary.
“This is the only alternative as we want to prevent encroachment or inland clearing.
“The Penang government, through PBAPP, also has proposed to set up the Ulu Muda basin authority to ensure the quality and quantity of raw water stay protected.
“And of course in the future, we must get the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme (SPRWTS) off the ground because it has been delayed for 11 years,” he said.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi
Video by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar