Get Langat II plant built, Umno urges Selangor

Noh Omar warns of water crisis, says project should not be a pawn to water services deal

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Umno has called for the Langat II water treatment plant to be completed within three to four years failing which to avert an imminent water crisis in the state.

Selangor Umno chairman Noh Omar said the Langat II project and restructuring of the water services industry in Selangor should be viewed from two different angles because the project should be hastened in the interest of the people.

“The construction of the tunnel that is part of the Langat II project to channel untreated water from Pahang to Hulu Langat in Selangor, is already completed but the Langat II plant is still not ready.

“I understand the progress of the Langat II plant project has hardly reached two per cent. If the project is not expedited, then Selangor will face water problems in three to four years,” he said here.

Noh said the Langat II project should not be used as a pawn just because no settlement was reached between the state and the Federal Government concerning the restructuring of the water services industry in Selangor.

According to a reply received by the energy ministry at Parliament last week, the restructuring of the water services industry has still not been fully resolved, following the Selangor Government’s failure to fulfill the conditions precedent in the main agreement signed between the state government and the Federal Government.

Energy minister Maximus Ongkili had reportedly said the delay in the Langat II water treatment plant had occurred because the state government had directed the agencies and local authorities to suspend issuance of all approvals and permits for the construction of the plant until the restructuring was finalised.

- BERNAMA