Residents: No water shortage, Syabas reports misleading

The long-standing water plight of some Sri Petaling residents is caused by low water pressure, not by the shortage of water as claimed by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas).

A total of 404 houses located on Jalan Wan Empok, Jalan Wan Empok 1 and Jalan Wan Empok 2 in Sri Petaling have regularly been experiencing low water pressure for the past two years, Sri Petaling Residents Association chairperson Tan Tai Tong said.

"We are disappointed that Syabas has been issuing misleading reports that Sri Petaling is one of the areas affected by a shortage of water," Tan told Malaysiakini yesterday.

"The Syabas helpline has also misled the residents that the Sri Petaling area is affected by low water pressure in the Gasing reservoir.

"We want to clarify here that this is not accurate as except for the residents along these three roads, all the other residents in Sri Petaling have continuous water supply," Tan added.

A June 18 report in The Star quoted Syabas as saying that some areas would be affected by water disruptions due to low levels of water in the Semenyih and Langat reservoirs and the hot weather.

The report said water shortages could also be expected at Jalan Klang Lama, Sri Petaling, Desa Petaling and major parts of Section 52 in the Petaling district, as well as at IOI Serdang in the Sepang district.

However, Tan said, the cut in water supply has been a daily problem for the Sri Petaling residents along Jalan Wan Empok, Jalan Wan Empok 1 and Jalan Wan Empok 2.

"We have to collect water for cooking before 5pm everyday. The disruption always occurs between 5pm and 7pm, and (water supply) resumes only about midnight."

"The worst case will be when the water supply resumes at 2am. Then, some of us will have to stay up to store water," he said.

Numerous complaints lodged

Many residents have made complaints with Syabas through its Puspel Helpline, but they are given "ridiculous" explanations, he added, such as "the water tap has not been upgraded and the high water pressure will burst the pipes".

Last week, the residents faced an even bigger danger due to the low water pressure, Tan said.

This was when fire broke out at a vacant house on Jalan Wan Empok - and the low water pressure in the nearby fire hydrant resulted in the fire brigade taking more than took two hours to put out the flames.

"We called the fire brigade and it took them only 15 minutes to arrive from Sungai Besi. The firemen used water from their truck, but it was not enough.

"They tried to use the hydrant, but it was ineffective because of the low pressure. They had to call two other trucks to help," Tan said.

The residents are demanding that Syabas provides a concrete solution to end their continuous water problems.

They also want the water supplier to give them a deadline on when the problem would be fixed and regular updates on its progress to ending their water woes.