Federal government is executive authority on water supply, services

 

Kua Kia Soong and citizens of Pakatan Harapan (PH)-run Selangor have every right to say they would prefer Anwar Ibrahim, who heads PH, to help resolve the never-ending water pollution problem in the state.

But lest we forget, Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) is the executive authority relating to the water supply system and services throughout Peninsular Malaysia as well as the Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Labuan.

The SPAN Act 2006 (Act 654) was passed together with the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655). The latter is the primary piece of legislation giving executive authority for the management and protection of public water supply and it is a federal law.

Passed pursuant to Article 74(1) and Article 80(2) of the Federal Constitution, Act 655 specifically vests executive authority in the federal government on matters relating to water supply services and systems.

The federal government should therefore take responsibility and put in place measures similar to what it is doing for the Covid-19 pandemic, where the primary legislation should be the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), which is similarly a federal law.

Let’s stop the blame game. It’s time for collective action.

Hafiz Hassan is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.