TheStar:Syabas misled public, says Luas

SHAH ALAM: Selangor water concessionaire Syabas has misled the public by claiming that water reserves in the state was decreasing, said the state water management board.

Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas) said water levels at dams had increased in recent years, hitting out at Syabas for being unprofessional by giving the wrong impression on the state’s water resources.

Luas said there was sufficient water in Selangor with high rainfall recorded at most reservoirs.

Through observations made on Sept 11 at seven dams and major rivers in Selangor, the state government agency found that water levels at all intake points required by water treatment plants were in good condition and not at a worrying state.

The results showed that the capacity of the Sungai Selangor dam is at 78.34%, Sungai Tinggi dam at 85.78% and Tasik Subang dam at 95.64% while the Batu, Klang Gate, Sungai Langat and Sungai Semenyih dams all had a 100% record.

Luas also stressed that Syabas should be responsible in ensuring the clean water reserve was at 10%.

Bernama:Syarikat Air Terengganu Launches Hotline Today

KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 22 (Bernama) -- Syarikat Air Terengganu Sdn Bhd (SATU) today launched its hotline, 1-300-88-2111, to provide more efficient and effective service to consumers.
Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said besides helping them improve their services through complaints on water supply, billing and water meters, consumers were also urged to use the hotline to report damaged or leaking pipes to overcome the problem of non-revenue water (NRW) faced by SATU.

"Last year, SATU recorded 39.39 per cent NRW, and this year the state government has demanded that the problem be resolved to reduce costs borne as a result," he said.

He said this at a news conference after launching the hotline and witnessing the signing of an agreement between SATU and VADS Berhad at Ri-Yaz Heritage, Pulau Duyong, here today.

Also present were SATU chief executive officer (CEO) Husain Embong and VADS Berhad CEO, Ghazali Omar.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the state government had approved an allocation of RM1.7 million to replace badly leaking pipes, which had resulted in NRW rates to drop to 37.35 per cent until July.-- BERNAMA

Bernama:SYABAS Needs More Treatment Plants To Avert A Water Crisis

PETALING JAYA, Sept 20 (Bernama) - Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) needs more water treatment plants to avert critical water shortage in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya by 2015.

Project executive director Sanusi Sulaiman told a round table conference Tuesday that water supply to the three areas rose during peak periods due to the festive season and population increase.

He said based on the trend of the last six years, from 2005 to 2010, demand grew at 3.5 percent annually. This requires 10 percent reserve capacity to accommodate needs of users during peak hours and to accelerate recovery period after supply disruptions.

The current production capacity of 33 water treatment plants amounted 4,326mil lit daily (mld) compared with the average demand of 4,197 mld.

The increase in number of treatment plants would increase production capacity by 105 mil lit of water.
Sanusi said Petaling Jaya, Hulu Langat, southern Kuala Lumpur and Klang are experiencing water shortages or "water stress".-- BERNAMA

Bernama:Ahmad Husni: IWK to merge with government subsidiary company

IPOH: The government has decided to merge national sewerage company, Indah Water Konsortium, (IWK) with a government subsidiary company, said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

He said the decision was made recently by the National Economic Council.

"The move is an effort to strengthen both entities which is owned by the government. The biggest asset owned by IWK can be redeveloped and benefit the merged entity," he told reporters after distributing Jalur Gemilang flags to Chemor residents here.

He was commenting on a report that IWK was expected to be privatised soon to a consortium led by strategic investment agency, 1MDB.

Saying that the merger process had begun, Ahmad Husni however declined to disclose the name of the government subsidiary company, except to say that IWK would continue to be government-owned after the merger.

IWK is currently wholly-owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated. - Bernama

TheStar:Chin unaware of 1MDB’s plan to privatise IWK

PETALING JAYA: The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry is unaware of 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) possible plan to privatise Indah Water Konsortium (IWK).

“I've not heard anything about that. And IWK comes directly under my ministry,” Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

1MDB, the strategic development unit owned by the Government, said it was “assessing how it could serve national interest and that of its shareholders in a proposed partial privatisation of IWK in which the Government will retain control.”

Meanwhile, Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, which is reportedly the company that together with1MDB would propose to take over the national sewerage company, saw its shares reach multi-week highs yesterday.

“We are excited with talk that IWK's potential privatisation is likely to involve Puncak Niaga ... the move is obviously synergistic for the company as it would provide additional income for Puncak Niaga,” said OSK Research in a note.

The research house upgraded the stock yesterday to a “trading buy” from “neutral”.

It closed 14 sen up at RM1.28 after reaching RM1.35 earlier in the day with some three million shares changing hands.

Shares in Puncak Niaga have been on a general downtrend over the past couple of years as the restructuring of the water sector in Selangor, which is part of a larger national initiative, has not materialised after years of negotiations.

TheStar:IWK: Most take service for granted

MOST people often take sewerage service for granted and will only take notice of Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) when their pipe is clogged or overflowed.

IWK chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Kadir Mohd Din said it was common for people to say that the national sewerage company was invisible but that was an indication of its efficiency.

He said the common causes for sewerage problems were old piping and lack of civic consciousness.

On the go: IWK still helps to desludge individual septic tanks if requested.

Abdul Kadir said the pipes were rehabilitated in stages according to available funds, but it did not help when sewerage plant processes failed due to illegal discharge of materials like grease and diapers that could not be broken down, theft of parts, and power failure.

“People must realise that IWK is owned by the government and the government belongs to the rakyat, which means that IWK belongs to the people.

TheStar:Four Kedah companies refuse to pay water bill

ALOR SETAR: Four companies in Kulim Hi-Tech Park are refusing to pay their August water bill amounting to RM600,000 as they want Darulaman Water Company Sdn Bhd (Sada) to use the old rate approved by the state 15 years ago.

The four companies which produce electronic and software products, claim that they should be paying a flat rate of RM1 per cubic metre as agreed, compared to the new tariff which is from RM1.05 until RM1.20 based on usage amount.

Sada chief executive officer Datuk Adzmi Din said the companies did not pay their August bill and insisted that Sada stick to the RM1 water rate agreement which will end in 2012.

“Any agreement signed before the new rate is automatically abolished under the National Water Services Commission (Span) Act 2004 but there are certain quarters who convinced the companies that they should be paying the old rate.

“The new rate was gazetted on Oct 1 last year following the privatisation of water supply by Span,” he said when met during Sada’s Hari Raya open house yesterday.

MalaysianInsider:IWK to be privatised to 1MDB

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) is expected to be privatised soon to a consortium led by strategic investment agency 1MDB, some 11 years after the government was forced to bail out the national sewerage company from financial difficulties under its previous owners, according to sources in the Finance Ministry. The sources told The Malaysian Insider that the 1MDB-led consortium will include water distribution company Puncak Niaga, and that the deal has been given the nod by the Economic Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
However, it is understood that some ministry officials are still scrutinising the deal because of concerns about its feasibility and worries that the government could once again be forced to bail out the company if the latest plan fails.
Under the proposed deal, the 1MDB consortium will acquire IWK for RM1 and take over its debts which include more than RM1.5 billion in loans still owed to the ministry.
The consortium is seeking a 60-year concession from the government and will only pay back the principal amount and interest on the loan over the long term.
It also has plans to link sewerage charges to water usage.

UtusanMalaysia:BN janji selesai masalah air

KOTA BHARU 4 Sept. – Barisan Nasional (BN) Kelantan berjanji akan menyelesaikan masalah bekalan air di seluruh negeri ini dalam tempoh lima tahun sekiranya menang pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.
Pengerusinya, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed berkata, malah janji tersebut telah dimasukkan ke dalam manifesto BN negeri ini kerana pihaknya mahu membantu rakyat keluar daripada belenggu masalah yang terpaksa mereka tempuhi lebih 20 tahun.

Beliau berkata, Kerajaan Pas Kelantan tidak serius untuk menyelesaikan masalah air di negeri ini biarpun telah diberi peluang oleh rakyat berkali-kali dan turut mendapat peruntukan daripada Kerajaan Pusat sebelum ini.

“Salah satu perkara dalam manifesto pilihan raya umum akan datang ialah kita berjanji akan menyelesaikan masalah bekalan air di seluruh negeri ini dalam tempoh sepenggal,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas Jamuan Hari Raya UMNO Kelantan dan Penyampaian Watikah Jentera Pilihan Raya Barisan Nasional (BN) di Bangunan UMNO Negeri di sini hari ini.

Turut hadir, Timbalan Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan UMNO Kelantan, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin dan semua pemimpin parti komponen BN.

Bernama:Handing Over Of Water Treatment Plant Complete

JOHOR BAHARU, Aug 31 (Bernama) -- The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, today witnessed the handing over of the four water treatment plants under the management of the Singapore Public Utilities Board (PUB), to the Johor Government.

PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw and Johor State Secretary Obet Tawil were signatories at the handing over of the water treatment plants at Gunung Pulai and Skudai, and pump houses at Pontian and Tebrau.

The handing-over ceremony was held at the Gunung Pulai water treatment plant here today.

Also present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and Singapore Water Resources Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

The handing-over marked the end of the 1961 water agreement signed between the Singapore and Johor governments.

Abdul Ghani thanked the PUB for having kept the two treatment plants and the pump houses in good working condition throughout their tenure.

Bernama:Johor To Continue Venturing Into Water Resources, Says Abdul Ghani

MUAR, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- The Johor state government will continue to explore new sources of water for the long-term needs of residents, and for industries, including petroleum, which will be developed in Teluk Ramunia, Kota Tinggi.

Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said at the moment the state government was exploring the potentials of the Sungai Sedili Besar in Kota Tinggi as a source of water supply.

"This is part of the state government's plan to provide water supply beyond the long-term needs of the people and industries in the state," he said, speaking to reporters after an open house at his residence here Thursday.

Abdul Ghani said the state government had appointed a consultant to carry out a feasibility study for a water treatment plant in the river.