Malaysia: Prolonged water rationing hurting Johor businesses

KATHLEEN ANN KILI The Star 8 Nov 15;

JOHOR BARU: Business owners here are upset with the prolonged scheduled water rationing, saying it has affected revenue for the past three months.

The affected ones are mostly those who run car wash outlets, laundry shops and restaurants. XL Car Wash and Polishing Centre owner Steven Er claimed that his profits had dipped by about 50% since the water rationing started.

“I faced losses of about RM4,000 in the first month. I decided to fork out RM1,000 to buy extra tanks to store up to 700 gallons of water.”

“My car wash service is now limited to 30 cars a day, which is half of my regular sale,” he said.

It has been reported that two dams in Johor were at critical level despite heavy rains of late.

Er, who has been operating his business for five years, said he hoped that Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) would offer compensation by lowering the tariff for those affected.

A restaurant owner, who wanted to be known only as Ina, said she had to buy large containers to store water for her business along Jalan Permas 10 here.

“I have not resorted to buying water from commercial factories but if the problem persists, I may not have a choice,” she said.