New highway damaged due to pipe burst, Klang water supply affected

Consumers hit by the unscheduled water supply disruption due to three mains bursting along the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project site near Klang on Sunday, will have to be a little bit more patient because repairs are taking longer than anticipated.

According to Bernama, Selangor state executive councillor (Exco) in charge, Izham Hashim, said the delay was due to earth movements at the location and that the authorities and WCE were conducting a joint probe to find out the cause.

"When it comes to earth movement, it is definitely serious, what more the sizes of the mains are 1400mm, 900mm and 600mm.

"We have also instructed WCE to reduce the load from the structures of the expressway there on the soil to prevent any untoward incidents,” he told reporters after visiting the site of the burst pipes today.

Almost 90 percent of consumers in this district have been hit by the unscheduled disruption. `

Izham said the state government and WCE were doing all they could to “fix the problem”.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said the situation was a result of the failure of a retaining wall built by WCE.

“Air Selangor stated that the broken pipes did not occur under normal circumstances. The pipes were displaced and dislocated at several places as a result of failure of the retaining wall built by WCE, causing land movement which shifted the pipes,” he said.

The minister added that he was informed that new damage was detected on the 900mm pipes which had already been repaired, adding to the delays.

Air Selangor will conduct a prompt assessment of the latest damages detected at one of the pipes, he said, adding he would be visiting the affected areas this evening upon returning from Sandakan.

Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) Communications and Consumer Relations Department head Abdul Raof Ahmad reportedly said once the situation was rectified, supply would be restored in stages.

He told Bernama that all affected areas would have supply restored within 24 hours when the repairs were done.

Consumers needing assistance can contact 15300 (SMS) or send a Whatsapp message to either 019-281 6793 or 019-280 0919.

The latest updates on the situation can be accessed at www.syabas.com.my, Facebook ‘Air Selangor’ and Twitter @air_selangor. - Mkini