TASNIM LOKMAN AND NURADILLA NOORAZAM New Straits Times 8 Apr 14;
KUALA LUMPUR: THE Federal Government will invoke the Water Services Act 2006 (WSIA) to assume control of all four water companies in Selangor.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said the cabinet made the decision on Friday to give him the authority to decide on the commencement of the invocation date.
The move was to ensure the security and sustainability of water supply to the people of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
"The Federal Government does not wish to allow the protracted negotiation on the restructuring of the water industry between the Selangor government and the concessionaires, as well as the ongoing water supply crisis plaguing the three regions, to cause the people and the national economy to suffer," he said.
The National Water Services Commission (Span) reported that up to March 31 this year, 821 project applications in the three states had to be put on hold because of inadequate water supply.
Ongkili said the invocation was conditional on both the Federal and Selangor governments signing the Heads of Agreement in respect to the Langat 2 project, as stipulated in the memorandum of understanding signed by both parties on Feb 26.
In Shah Alam, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he was informed of the matter through a letter from the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry, dated April 4 (Friday).
"The Federal Government has also requested that the state government expedite the approvals for the Langat 2 water treatment plant and mitigation projects that have been put on hold.
"In a meeting between the minister and I on April 4, I was given a draft of the agreements we had made on the MoU between the Federal and state governments that was signed on Feb 26.
"The state government will go through the agreement draft before agreeing to sign it as we are making sure that the people's livelihood is prioritised in this agreement.
"We are convinced that the cooperation between the Federal and state government on the state water industry restructuring exercise will be successful.
"At the same time, we plead for the people's patience in dealing with the water crisis, as well as waiting for the process to take place. We also urge the people to be stringent in using water as we try to solve the issue and bring back the water supply to the state."
The MoU provides for the Selangor government to approve the construction of the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plan and the Federal Government's willingness to invoke Section 114 of the WSIA.
The RM4.14 billion plant, scheduled for construction in 2010, was delayed because of the Selangor government's refusal to issue a development order.
Section 114 of the WSIA allows for the Federal Government to take over the concessionaire operations through Span for a short term.
The concessionaires involved are Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (Abass).
A water crisis in the state has been predicted by experts because of the dwindling water supply reserves as well as the increasing water demands from the over-populated state.
From February this year, residents in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur were forced to live without continuous supply of water when the state took to water rationing to deal with the severe drop in the water levels in the state dams.
'Continuous heavy rain can end rationing'
patrick lee The Star 8 Apr 14;
PETALING JAYA: Selangor needs a continuous spate of daily heavy rain over the next few weeks if water rationing here is to end.
This is unlikely, said Association of Water and Energy Research (AWER) president S. Piarapakaran, adding that the recent rainfall was not enough to replenish the drying dams in the state.
“The rainfall pattern is not as heavy as it used to be. There might be an increase in this short period of time, but it’s just a small increase.
“If we have continous heavy rain over the next two weeks, we would not be going into the next stage of water rationing,” he told The Star.
Piarapakaran said rain in Selangor was at a “medium” level, adding that high-intensity rain would result in flash floods.
It was previously reported that water rationing here will end when capacity levels at the Sungai Selangor dam reach 55%.
However, Malaysian Meteorological Department central forecasting office director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said heavy rainfall was likely in some parts of Malaysia over the next few months.
“It can be heavy at times, but not all places will receive the same kind of weather,” he said.
Muhammad said rain would continue to fall from May to September, though at a lesser portion – about 100mm to 150mm each month.
He also expected water in dams in the state not to dry up as quickly as in February and March, adding that higher humidity due to recent rain decreased local evaporation rates.
A state-wide forecast said isolated afternoon thunderstorms were expected throughout this week, with isolated rain continuing at night until Thursday.
When asked if the Government could set up infrastructure to divert stormwater from rained-on areas to those served by water catchment areas, Piarapakaran said this was very expensive to do.
“If we want to go into stormwater management, we need to redesign our entire drain management system. There are all sorts of chemicals in them, and we need to ensure the water is clean,” he said.
He said he was not confident that water authorities here were up to par in taking action against river polluters, adding that Malaysia had to decrease its non-revenue water and increase its dam capacity first.
Dam readings by LUAS, the Selangor Water Management Authority, were shown to have increased slightly over the past few days.
As of Monday morning, these were: 78.27% (Batu), 53.96% (Klang Gates), 49.35% (Langat), 71.22% (Semenyih), 37.31% (Sg Selangor), 61.46% (Sg Tinggi) and 87.24% (Tasik Subang).
Some 6.7 million people in Selangor face water rationing.
New fires keep firefighters on the edge
New Straits Times 8 Apr 14;
SHORT RESPITE: Dry spell makes it difficult for fire personnel to fully douse fire
KUANTAN: Fire and Rescue personnel have been kept on their toes as they battle peat and bush fires along Jalan Kuantan-Pekan around the clock.
Just when many thought the rainy weather last week might douse the smouldering peat fires, which had lasted weeks, new hot spots emerged in different locations.
Taman Tas fire station chief Suffian Mohd said the hot spots forced the department to set up temporary bases to prevent the fire from spreading to densely populated areas.
He said the dry spell i made it impossible for personnel to put out the fires and they could only monitor to prevent the situation from getting worse.
A Rompin Fire and Rescue department spokesman said 40 personnel along with plantation workers braved the hot weather to put-out forest fires at Felcra Kampung Perpat 2 in Kuala Rompin.
He said it would take about a week to bring the fire under control as poor visibility and uneven road conditions made it difficult for fire engines to get close to burning spots.
"Firemen from neighbouring districts including Pekan, Mentakab, Temerloh and Muadzam Shah, have been roped in to assist personnel from Rompin fire station."
In George Town, the water levels of all three dams in Penang were stable, thanks to the rain in the past week.
The capacities of the dams, as April 2, ranged between about 38 per cent to 75 per cent.
Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Jaseni Maidinsa said the capacity of Mengkuang Dam had improved slightly to 38.6 per cent and could meet the state's water needs for 64 days, the capacities of Air Itam dam and Teluk Bahang dams stood at 65.2 per cent and 75.3 per cent respectively.
The water at Air Itam and Teluk Bahang dams could meet the state's needs for 64 days and 229 days respectively.
He said the water company was confident the current weather, with frequent rain expected during the inter-monsoon season, would replenish water in the dams.
Jaseni said households with eight members or more should fill in application forms to be eligible for the 60 per cent discount on the water conservation surcharge, from April 16. The forms are available at PBAPP counters in Komtar, Bayan Baru, Rifle Range, Balik Pulau, Perai Complex, Taman Selat, Kepala Batas, Bukit Mertajam and Jawi.
He said applicants must attach MyKad copies of all occupants and that they should have the same address.
They should also attach a copy of their latest water and electricity bills.
Approval would take about a week.
