The Penang government is seeking the cooperation and support of the Federal Government to fully complete the Mengkuang Dam Expansion Project (MDEP) as soon as possible.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chairman, stressed that without the implementation of the full scope of the RM1.2 billion project, the Penang water supply services will inevitably be disrupted if any mishap occurs at Sungai Muda. This is because it is the one and only major raw water resource.
“As of now, the expanded Mengkuang Dam is the biggest dam in Penang, with a maximum effective capacity of 86,400 million litres (ML). However, its maximum drawdown capacity is limited to 300 million litres per day (MLD) only.
“The expanded Mengkuang Dam also supplies raw water directly to the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP). Its raw water cannot be supplied to any other WTP or dam in the state. Thus, it cannot replace the Air Itam Dam or the Teluk Bahang Dam on Penang island.
“And due to its 300 MLD drawdown limitation, the expanded Mengkuang Dam cannot provide sufficient raw water to support 100% treated water production at the Sungai Dua WTP during emergencies.
“This is the reason why PBAPP was only able to draw down 300 MLD from the expanded Mengkuang Dam during the emergency situation that happened on May 14 (Saturday),” Chow told a press conference after the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at its headquarters in Bayan Lepas today.
On May 14, a mishap in Kedah caused the river level of Sungai Muda to drop to a level which prevented PBAPP from abstracting raw water from Sungai Muda.
As a result, water supply services for 400,000 water consumers in Penang were affected.
According to Chow, the Penang government through PBAPP would like to convert the expanded Mengkuang Dam from a 300 MLD strategic drought drawdown dam to a 1,000 MLD strategic drought dam and Sungai Muda emergency dam through the MDEP project.
“To achieve this objective, the following sub-projects or project components have to be completed by the Federal Government.
“This includes the laying of a pipeline to upgrade the drawdown capacity to 600 MLD at any time and the laying of additional pipelines to further boost the drawdown capacity to 1,000 MLD at any time.
“Others include the construction of a new 440 MLD pumping station at Sungai Muda to enable refilling of the expanded Mengkuang Dam and construction of a new barrage across Sungai Muda to support additional abstraction of raw water from the river during wet seasons to refill the Mengkuang Dam,” he said.
Chow stressed that until these project components are completed, the expanded Mengkuang Dam cannot fulfil its full potential as Penang’s largest dam.
“The dam also cannot fully back up Sungai Muda during emergency scenarios and Penang will remain vulnerable to incidents and any mishaps at Sungai Muda.
“Thus, this is why the MDEP must be fully completed soon and we seek cooperation and full support from the Federal Government on this matter,” he said.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Law Suun Ting
Video by Alissala Thian