Malaysia: No end to water woes in Johor

YEE XIANG YUN The Star 14 Nov 15;

JOHOR BARU: As the scheduled water exercise in parts of Johor Baru and Kota Tinggi enters its fourth month, residents and business owners’ patience is wearing thin.

Ponderosa Green Residents Association chairman Datuk Jane Go said that they had managed to adjust to the scheduled water supply in the first two months where taps go dry for 48 hours before water supply resumes for a day since Aug 16.

“Now that SAJ (Syarikat Air Johor Holdings) is extending the exercise for the third time, we are quickly losing patience,” she said.

Go said although she was aware that water levels at the dams supplying water to the two areas were low, residents found it difficult to deal with the situation which had been going on for four months.

“Besides the inconvenience of having to deal with the water disruption, many of us have to fork out extra money to eat outside and send clothes to laundromats because it is difficult to cook and wash clothes at home,” she said.

She was among those who raised their frustrations in a meeting with SAJ staff organised by Pasir Gudang MCA division.

Property sales executive Joe Ng, 32, from Taman Molek, said that it has been physically and mentally draining.

“Even people like us who are able-bodied are finding it tiring to store water and carry buckets of water around the house everyday, what about old folk living by themselves?” he asked.

He suggested that SAJ come up with a better timetable for water supply so that residents would be less inconvenienced.

SAJ corporate communication head Jamaluddin Jamil said they would look into the suggestion.

“SAJ is still finding ways to solve the water crisis.

“Johor Jaya and Damandara Aliff are no longer under the scheduled water exercise as we are using an alternative water source, namely Sungai Johor,” he said.

He added water levels at the depleting Sungai Layang and Sungai Lebam dams would see improvements once the ongoing RM4mil water transfer projects to pump water from Sungai Tiram and Sungai Papan are completed in December.

The scheduled water exercise from Aug 16 until Sept 15 has been extended two more times until November.

For details, call 1 800 88 7474 (SAJ Info Centre), SMS to 019-772 7474 or email customer.care@saj.com.my.

MB: Councils to ensure builders have own water supply
The Star 15 Nov 15;

PASIR GUDANG: Local councils in Johor will be asked to carry out a feasibility study on the proposal for developers to include rainwater harvesting and install water tanks in their development projects.

This, says Mentri Besar Datuk Khaled Nordin, was to reduce their dependency on dam water.

He said the move was part of a long-term solution to ensure that the water levels at dams in the state remained sustainable.

“There is a coastal housing area in Permas Jaya here where the developer has built its own system. And the area itself is not included in the current water rationing sche­dule.

“We believe that it is about time that the local councils studied this and to see whether such systems will help lessen dependence on traditional water supply from SAJ (Syarikat Air Johor Holdings),” Khaled said.

He was speaking to reporters after opening the Duta Jauhar 2.0 and Economy and Human Capital Transformation project in Taman Desa Rakyat here yesterday.

Khaled said the state would also hold a water forum on Tuesday that would gather key players, including experts from the universities, to find a solution.

“The change in the weather has contributed to the current water woes here, and the forum will discuss it. Hopefully, we will be able to find a proper long-term answer to it,” he said.