Selangor government to invest RM30b to maintain water assets

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Selangor government to invest RM30b to maintain water assets

THE Selangor government is expected to invest RM1 billion every year as part of its 30-year plan in supplying treated water to people in the Klang Valley. Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the move is in line with the state’s water consolidation exercise which was completed last April.

“We have spent approximately RM1 billion every year…in the plan, we are expected to continuously replace about 150km length of pipes.

“In fact, we also plan to upgrade water treatment plants such as the Labuhan Dagang 2 and Sungai Rasau, after the completion of Labuhan Dagang 1 treatment plant by the end of this year,” he told reporters after attending the Hong Kong Chinese Importers and Exporters (HKCIEA) dialogue session in Shah Alam, Selangor, yesterday.

Earlier, Amirudin announced that Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) will officially become the sole water supplier for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya effective from Friday.

He said the wholly owned state firm will be responsible for all water treatments and supplies for the three areas, as part of Selangor’s water consolidation plan that finally concluded after a decade.

“Air Selangor has completed the takeover of all private concessionaires, namely Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd, Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Air Selangor Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd. “The successful restructuring means all water concessions have come to an end,” he said.

Amirudin added that Selangor needs to have a proper plan to deliver treated water to its residents and users efficiently, in addition to paying a huge debt to Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd which has financed part of the take-over portion.

“It could not be solved within a day as we have only upgraded 485km length of pipes…we still have to review the conditions of 22,000km of pipes,” he said.

Amirudin said the state government has also managed to reduce the non-revenue water level between 3% and 4%.

“If we keep doing this, we can manage the water supply in a more efficient manner and curb any water disruption,” he added. Air Selangor spent RM1.1 billion to upgrade and maintain its water assets between 2016 and 2018. Meanwhile, Amirudin said Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar would look into the possibility of increasing in water tariffs. Last week, Xavier said the federal government might announce new water tariffs by year-end but assured that the new rates would not burden the people.

By AFIQ AZIZ / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

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