Residents in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will face a water crisis as early as 2014 unless the Selangor government releases a development order on the Langat 2 treatment plant, a crucial component of the Pahang - Selangor raw water transfer project.
The RM8 billion project will see the construction of a 44.6km-long tunnel, measuring 5.2m in diameter, cutting across the Titiwangsa main range and transporting raw water from the Kelau Dam in Pahang to the Langat 2 plant in Selangor.
Once completed, the facility is set to supply 1,890 million litres of raw water daily for the consumption of households in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui said the non-action of the Selangor government had delayed the construction of the plant by eight months.
“If the plant is not ready despite the completion of the raw water transfer component, the entire project will be inoperable. It will result in us not being able to meet the water demand, resulting in water deficit in 2014.
“If these two components are not synchronised, it is very likely that the tunnel will be ready but cannot be used. It will have a cascading effect on various development plans, such as the Greater KL plan and the Economic Transformation Programme,” Chin said, adding that the Selangor government’s refusal to release the development order was a disservice to the people. “This is not going to benefit the people. The consequences are many and will have a huge impact on the lives of people living in these three areas.”
Based on 2009 figures, he said Malaysians used 8,552 million litres of water daily. This was an increase of 2.65 per cent from 2008. Looking at the development in the Klang Valley, the figure is expected to steadily increase every year.
“Just look at the number of houses, commercial establishments and industrial plants being built.
“As of today, our current reserve capacity is around six per cent when it should be around 15 per cent,” he said, adding that the reserve was too little.
“According to our studies, by 2014, we will be short of raw water which poses a serious situation,” stressed Chin.
Projections on the level of water consumption show that by 2014, it is very likely that the demand for water will exceed its supply, resulting in a water deficit of 217 million litres daily, rising to 460 million litres daily in 2015.
To address this deficit, the government began looking for other sources of raw water which could be sustainable and treated at a reasonable cost.
The inter-state water transfer scheme was conceptualised in the 1990s, with completion set for 2014.
“We need this project to make up the deficit, a situation expected to arise from 2014 onwards. It is capable of giving us an extra source of water until 2025.
“This is a long-term project which will give us the confidence to go into the future. This is the project that will save us,” Chin said.
The minister said the Selangor government had made a stand on the matter — that it would give the Langat plant the go-ahead only when an amicable solution was reached in the water services restructuring exercise involving the Federal Government, state government and private concessionaires.
The state government had also said the water transfer project could wait as it did not foresee any water crisis in Selangor in 2014.
“We have already acquired the land and the funding for the project. All that is left is for the Selangor government to release the development order for the project. We have done all we can to convince them,” Chin said.
In the interim, the ministry is taking steps to mitigate the problem on a short-term basis with the implementation of four projects.
This includes the KLIA alternative water supply project which is expected to supply an additional 105 million litres daily; the rehabilitation of the intake point at the Sungai Selangor Phase 1 treatment plant which will increase capacity to 190 million litres daily; the installation of a booster pump at the Bernam River headworks treatment plant which will increase capacity of treated water to 25 million litres daily; and spending another RM170 million to rehabilitate old pipes in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Chin said the 2014 water deficit projection had already taken into account these four projects.
Without them, the water deficit will come sooner.
He stressed that Malaysians should conserve water as a water crisis was in fact a real possibility.
“We do not want to ration water. We do not want people to suffer. We must do something before the situation deteriorates,” he warned.
