Businessmen posed a flurry of questions to the state government over the status of water supply in Selangor at a public briefing as they are concerned about the impact a shortage might have on their investments in the state.
About a dozen businessmen shot question after question at Selangor Economic Planning Unit (Upen) deputy director Nor Azmie Diron after the latter gave a short presentation on the water supply situation in the state.
Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) had witheld approval to 234 projects to since January this year, saying they required an additional 194MLD, said Nor Azmie.
However, he pointed out about half of the projects only needed water supply in 2014 and 2015, by which time an extra 120MLD would be made available from the Mitigation Project 1, scheduled for completion in March next year.
Nor Azmie said the problem was in the distribution of treated water, and not at the production stage.
He said treatment plants in the state had a potential to produce 4,809 million litres per day (MLD), while Syabas’ distributive capacity only stood at 4,411MLD.
“We are producing enough treated water, but the question is: How are we channelling the 4,809MLD to the consumers?” he said, adding that present consumer usage was 2,944MLD, while 1,389MLD was classified as non-revenue water.
When he opened the floor to questions, many businessmen voiced their concern as they have not been able to obtain Syabas approval to develop their projects.
“There will be lots of repercussions if water is not distributed. We are trying to build our corporate towers in Setia Alam, but Syabas has not approved our plan,” said a representative from Top Glove, the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer.
A representative from agro-based company Mewah Group in Pulau Indah asked if the state government can overrule Syabas as the company’s expansion plan is affected as it cannot secure water supply.
Drinks and dairy products manufacturer Fraser & Neave said the company incurred losses when there was a water cut to its plant in Pulau Indah which lasted five days.
“Ideally, we want to move from our Section 13 plant in Petaling Jaya to Pulau Indah entirely, but we can’t with this uncertainty,” said a representative from the company.
A developer, who only wanted to be known as Ismail, said it was possible to get building plan approval without needing Syabas’ consensus but asked for a guarantee of water supply when the project was completed.
“We are jittery. It takes two to three years to complete the project, and if there’s no water on completion, we will be in deep trouble.
“The final connection between the main (pipe) and the project must be done by Syabas. Developers and contractors are not allowed to do it on our own,” he said.
Nor Azmie said the local councils’ one-stop centres have been instructed to overrule Syabas, with a precedent already set by the Kuala Langat District Council.
“We have directed Syabas to just focus on the projects’ technical specifications, and if they are fulfilled, not to delay.
“Syabas should just act as a certifying agency, and not decide on water availability.
“At the local council level, they have been directed to approve,” he said.
Selangor executive councillor Teresa Kok called on those who had their development plans rejected to submit a copy to Nor Azmie.
This would then be brought up during the state government’s daily meeting with the water concessionaire.
