The Selangor government has blamed water distributor Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) for failing to present an emergency action plan in the wake of the current water shortage.
In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that this has forced the state government to issue its own rationing schedule to ensure water reserves are maintained until the end of March.
This follows meteorological reports that dry weather will persist until the end of next month.
“Syabas as water concessionaire, should have conducted rationing last week through an emergency action plan, to allow consumers to make early preparations.
“However, Syabas to date has failed to present its rationing plan and we have been informed that Syabas has refused to do so and is leaving this to the state,” he said.
Following this, he said the state has instructed the Economic Planning Unit (Upen) and National Water Services Commission (Span) to dicuss how the state can “step in” on water management.
Khalid (left) said this after announcing that the state willcommence water rationing tomorrow, on a rotation of two days with and two days without.
However, in a statement, Span said that Syabas did meet with the commission to present its water rationing plan after it was instructed to do so by the state.
"Span received an application from Syabas to conduct water rationing in affected areas. The meeting was conducted between Span, the state government and Syabas on Feb 21 to discuss the preparation.
"We were satisfied with Syabas’ plans and approved the rationing application," it said.
It said that further details on the rationing, which will affeect Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat, will be made public tomorrow.
Critical levels
According to Khalid, the state decided to commence rationing on an urgent basis after receiving report by the Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas).
“Luas has informed us that raw water supply in Selangor at in critical levels and that water levels at dams have reached cautionary levels,” he said.
He said that local governments have also been instructed to assist residents and especially monitor industrial areas to minimise impact on factories.
“In the meantime, we will continue with our cloud seeding efforts. We will continue to update on the situation and advise prudent use of water,” he said.
Selangor is not the only state which has declared a state of crisis over water, following its neighbour Negri Sembilan which did the same last week.
Some residents in Selangor have already experienced prolonged period of dry taps, with Balakong residents short of water for about a fortnight now.
PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli (right) claims this is due to high levels of ammonia in the river, as a result of the dry season, which is too high for the treatment plants to deal with.
However, he said Syabas did not plan for this and is only now starting to install filters to enable the plants to treat water with ammonia.
Syabas, however, said that it is not its job to monitor levels of ammonia in the river, and has threatened to sue Rafizi for defamation.
In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that this has forced the state government to issue its own rationing schedule to ensure water reserves are maintained until the end of March.
This follows meteorological reports that dry weather will persist until the end of next month.
“Syabas as water concessionaire, should have conducted rationing last week through an emergency action plan, to allow consumers to make early preparations.
“However, Syabas to date has failed to present its rationing plan and we have been informed that Syabas has refused to do so and is leaving this to the state,” he said.
Following this, he said the state has instructed the Economic Planning Unit (Upen) and National Water Services Commission (Span) to dicuss how the state can “step in” on water management.Khalid (left) said this after announcing that the state willcommence water rationing tomorrow, on a rotation of two days with and two days without.
However, in a statement, Span said that Syabas did meet with the commission to present its water rationing plan after it was instructed to do so by the state.
"Span received an application from Syabas to conduct water rationing in affected areas. The meeting was conducted between Span, the state government and Syabas on Feb 21 to discuss the preparation.
"We were satisfied with Syabas’ plans and approved the rationing application," it said.
It said that further details on the rationing, which will affeect Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat, will be made public tomorrow.
Critical levels
According to Khalid, the state decided to commence rationing on an urgent basis after receiving report by the Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas).
“Luas has informed us that raw water supply in Selangor at in critical levels and that water levels at dams have reached cautionary levels,” he said.
He said that local governments have also been instructed to assist residents and especially monitor industrial areas to minimise impact on factories.
“In the meantime, we will continue with our cloud seeding efforts. We will continue to update on the situation and advise prudent use of water,” he said.
Selangor is not the only state which has declared a state of crisis over water, following its neighbour Negri Sembilan which did the same last week.
Some residents in Selangor have already experienced prolonged period of dry taps, with Balakong residents short of water for about a fortnight now.PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli (right) claims this is due to high levels of ammonia in the river, as a result of the dry season, which is too high for the treatment plants to deal with.
However, he said Syabas did not plan for this and is only now starting to install filters to enable the plants to treat water with ammonia.
Syabas, however, said that it is not its job to monitor levels of ammonia in the river, and has threatened to sue Rafizi for defamation.
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