Water at all S'gor dams at peak capacity, says Liu

 

The water level of all seven dams in Selangor is at peak capacity, said Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu, who warned state water concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) not to manufacture a water crisis.

Liu, who chairs the state’s local government, research and development committee, said he and several village chiefs and local councillors had visited the dams this morning and found them to be full.

He questioned Syabas’ proposal to ration water in the Klang Valley since there is no shortage of water.

“We do not believe their story since all the dams are full and the rivers are full.

“Why rationing? Are they admitting that they do not know how to effectively treat water? There is plenty of raw water,” he told Malaysiakini.

He added that if Syabas is indeed incapable of treating the water, then it should support Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s plan to take over its operations.

When it was pointed out that the federal government’s argument was that there was insufficient capacity in the treatment plants, he rebutted that the government had been making different arguments, depending on whose press conference one attends.

He said these arguments include water levels, shortage of water treatment capacity, or that there is still a three percent buffer.

“So they have been coming up with all kinds of different stories. Even ministers have come up with different stories.

“Everybody out there is confused, so now we are trying to correct the picture, that’s why besides the Selangor Economic Planning Unit (Upen), we have appointed three auditing companies to do the (water) auditing,” he said.

Liu also pointed out that the government’s plan to set up the Sungai Langat Two Water Treatment Plant would not be completed in time to meet growing demand.

Three treatment plants being upgraded

Instead, he said three treatment plants are being upgraded and a new one is being built in Labu, which would be supplying water to the state by next year and is expected to meet demand until 2016.

“So we want to tell the whole world that we don’t have a shortage of water. We do not have a shortage of raw water. We also do not have a shortage of treated water.

“We are warning Syabas not to manufacture a water crisis, because they can. If they shut off all the taps, then immediately we won’t have water,” he said.

In a related development, Malay daily Berita Harian today quoted Energy, Green Technology, and Water Minister Peter Chin urging the state government not to rush its take-over bid before considering alternatives such as the Sungai Langat Two Water Treatment Plant.

He reportedly said a take-over of a company that has skilled labour such as Syabas is a complicated move that is bound to make the rakyat suffer.

“If he (Khalid) says there is water, where is it? If he wants to build a new plant, where is it? There needs to be proof before such decisions are made,” he reported said.

His comments ran alongside two photos purportedly showing that the treated water reservoir at Loji Imbangan Puncak Niaga, Sungai Langat, is at alarmingly low levels, just about half a metre instead of the usual three metres.