Water supply back to normal today, says Chow

 

A section of a pipe located at the bottom of Sungai Perai burst on Dec 18. (PBAPP pic)

GEORGETOWN: The water supply disruption due to a burst pipe on the riverbed of Sungai Perai, which affected 200,000 consumers since last Tuesday, is expected to be fully restored by the end of the day.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the recovery process has reached 97% as of this morning with 9,760 consumers in 11 areas in the island’s southwest district expected to have their water supply restored late today.

“The recovery process took a little longer because consumers in areas where the water supply was restored may have been filling up their tanks causing those in the higher areas and at the end of the system to receive their water supply later,” he added.

He told this to reporters after officiating the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of an additional building for the Kek Lok Si Welfare Hospital here.

A total of 200,000 consumers in the island’s southwest district and Seberang Perai on the mainland have been experiencing water supply disruption after a section of a pipe located at the bottom of Sungai Perai burst on Dec 18.

Regarding a suggestion by Gerakan for the affected water subscribers to be given a 50% discount on their water bills, Chow said the state government was prepared to consider the matter.

He added that the state government would be meeting with the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) to examine the weaknesses that need to be rectified to reduce the impact of the water supply disruption scheduled for four days next month.

“This unexpected event allows us to see the weaknesses and what we need to improve to minimise the impact in January,” he added. - FMT