Syabas either incompetent or up to mischief

I refer to the Bernama news report dated May 18 which reports the most recent statement by Syabas on the latest water supply disruption episode.

Syabas had initially said that the water disruption in Subang Jaya (since May 14) was caused by the hot weather in recent days. Subsequently, as reported in the Malay Mail, Syabas blamed the water disruption on "excessive usage of water" by the residents.

And now, Syabas is saying the water treatment plants have reached maximum production levels.

I call upon Syabas to do the followings:-

(a) Release all data to justify their reasons above. The data from Syabas must objectively indicate how long it took for the water level in the reservoir to drop, and what time-frame we are dealing with here, five minutes or five days? 

Based on the data, could early notice have been provided to affected residents? What amounts to excessive usage of water and how much increase in usage has there been from average consumption?

(b) Improve the services of their call centre Puspel in dealing with the expected volume of calls during episodes of supply disruption. Calls from residents to Puspel have gone unanswered and my office have been inundated with residents' complaints on this matter.

(c) Water tankers must be dispatched automatically to all affected areas according to Syabas' data without having affected residents making redundant requests for water tankers. As a service and distribution company, Syabas' primary duty is to ensure uninterrupted supply of treated water to customers and in the event of a disruption of any kind, to provide immediate and effective remedial steps without the need for unnecessary customer intervention. 

It also goes without saying that water tankers must be dispatched during times when customers are able to access it and not during the wee hours of the morning when most are asleep.

All of the above have been raised before when a similar water disruption happened in Subang Jaya in 2011. Clearly there have been no improvements by Syabas since then and it exposes the incompetence of Syabas as the sole water distributor for Selangor. 

And now with Syabas seemingly speaking on behalf of water treatment companies (Puncak Niaga, Splash and Abbas) in its latest statement, this begs the serious question of whether this is a manufactured water crisis to justify the award of the Langat 2 water treatment plant which is expected to be announced soon? 

Syabas needs to cease politicising water as it is a basic essential and tens of thousands of residents have been greatly affected. We the residents of Subang Jaya will hold Prime Minister Najib Razak responsible for holding the residents to ransom and using water as a political tool.

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HANNAH YEOH is Subang Jaya assemblyperson.