The following is the third of four features.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur dwellers have many grouses. Right from road congestions, rising cost of living caused by higher price of goods particularly during the festive seasons and other issues.
There are others who got worried over heavy downpours, as flashfloods in the city may occur.
But there is one more issue that got the residents of this metropolitan 'ruffled' and the issue is water supply and quality. There are occassions when no water flows out from the taps. And, if there is water flowing out then its quality is a cause for concern.
For residents of PKNS flats, Jalan Raja Muda Musa in Kampung Baru here, they have got used to the water supply and quality. The two blocks of flats - Block A and Block B, are the first to be constructed in Kampung Baru. Each block has 17 floors.
When one stands in front of these flats, the world-renowned Petronas Twin Towers (also known as KLCC) comes into view. This shows how strategic is the location of the flats as Kampung Baru lies right in the heart of this city.
Located not far from the flats is the LRT station, which gives the residents in this settlement and its surrounding area access to cheap and reliable public transport.
This had pushed up the value of the real estate there. A flat is now valued at RM120,000 as compared to its original price of RM28,000.
'ERRATIC' WATER SUPPLY
Unfortunately the erratic water supply has forced some of the residents to relocate elsewhere.
For Nuha Azahari who had been staying there for about eight years, she had to move out as she could no longer tolerate the irregular water supply at the flats.
Nuha, born in Taiping, Perak, said before moving to Kampung Baru at the end of 2002, she had stayed in Sentul and Gombak.
The erratic water supply at the Kampung Baru flats had riled her right from the beginning.
"If there were road works, then no water would flow out from the tap. Sometimes brownish water would come out and I have to wait for some 10 minutes for the colour to become clear. Sometimes the water caused skin irritation.
"Sometimes without prior warning, we discovered that there was water supply disruption. When we turned on the taps, only air came out. Do we have to go to work without taking a bath?"
Nuha said the worst episode happened in 2009 when the water supply was disrupted for more than a week.
"The water flow (that came out from the taps) was sluggish and it came for only one to two hours daily, early morning and at dusk. Have to wait, make rationing, buy bottled water or take water from relatives' house".
At the time she had moved from the 10th floor in Block A to the 13th floor in Block B of the flats. She rented the unit with four others at RM900 a month.
"The water woes forced some residents to stay with relatives elsewhere. Others even had to take their bath at public toilets. Had to stop at the public toilet first in order to take a bath before going to work. For how long can we take this?" she asked.
Finally she could not stand it no more. Nuha moved to a condominium in the city and she has no problems with the water supply there. She said the condominium block was newly constructed whereas the Kampung Baru flats have been there for 'ages' and that could be the reason for the erratic water supply at the flats.
WATER FILTER
Civil servant Mokhtar Ibrahim, 54, has stayed in the 1st floor of Block B at the Kampung Baru PKNS flats for some 20 years.
Mokhtar said in his family's early years at the flat, they did not experience water supply problems.
"The flats are old. The water tanks could be rusty. That explains the brownish water. Water supply disruptions are frequent and if the supply is restored, the water would be brownish for three to four hours", he told Bernama.
Unable to tolerate the 'rust-coloured' water, Mokhtar installed water filters in his flat in 2003. He spent some RM1,000 for two filers and in 2007, he installed new pipes as well as replaced the old water tank with a PVC one.
"The old tank was full of sediments. there are many flats with old tanks and these units are being rented out", he said, adding that at times the water that reached his flat is still murky.
"Maybe the problem is due to the mains," he lamented.
VARIOUS PROBLEMS
According to Ayob Silin, secretary for the PKNS flats' residents association, the flats were built in 1974 and four years later the residents began to move in.
He said there were no problems in the early years.
Ayob said the water quality problems began to surface in the 1980s and the residents there are unhappy as occupants of each of the unit needs to fork out RM77 a month for maintenance fees. They also pay water charges in bulk as the tariff is not based on individual meters.
When the flats were managed by PKNS, the water bill for each unit was only about RM6 to RM12 a month, as there was some subsidies then.
"But since the flats' management was taken over by the Joint Management Body (JMB) on Jan 1 in 2010, the water bill for each unit becomes RM35 a month. We can't do anything as this is the tariff fixed by Syabas.
"We are trying for the water bills to be determined by the respective individual meters but this is quite difficult. Syabas requires signatures of all owners of the flats for this but some 70 percent of the residents are those renting the units," said Ayob.
REPAIR WORK
But there is good news for residents of the Kampung Baru flats.
The 'dirty' water issue could be a thing of the past as all the eight tanks (four in Block A and four in Block B) had been replaced with fibreglass structures.
"The old tanks were rusted. Never changed since we moved in here", said Ayob who is also the secretary for JMB.
He said the government had contributed RM2 million for various repair work at the flats.
The flats were also given a new coat of paint. The main pipes and water pumps were changed apart from each block getting two new lifts.
"Despite having the new water tanks and pumps, (at times and for several minutes) brownish water would still flow out from the taps. The problem could be due to the main pipes under Syabas management," said Ayob who installed two water filters in his flat.
ZERO COMPLAINS
Ayob said JMB had informed Syabas over the water quality issue in 2010 but until today there is no action from the agency.
"If the main pipes needed to be changed, then the work may be needed by the whole of Kampung Baru as the pipes are decades old. This may involve a huge amount of money", Ayob said, adding that he hopes Syabas would give its attention on the welfare of the residents in terms of water quality.
"The residents pay high water bills even though they do not use much water. We want quality service (water supply and quality) and hope that this problem will be overcomed.
"If possible we want zero complains from the residents," he added.- BERNAMA
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