Water, water everywhere…
QUESTION TIME Considering that
we receive so much rain, we have so much forested land and so many
rivers and streams, it is a crying shame that water woes have become a
more or less perennial problem in Malaysia.
Not just that, it reflects total incompetence and perhaps even outright corruption in the way the country has dealt with the overall supply and distribution of a vital resource to its populace.
Such a situation demands immediate attention and solution, but the whole thing is mired in a morass of legal, watertight agreements which all but gives water concessionaires a major hold over how, and even whether, the water problem can be settled at all.
The underlying problem of water supply disruptions in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur has one root cause – for too long has it been viewed as a means to provide private profits for entrepreneurs who have had limited or no experience in the field.
Thus, the focus on the privatisation of water supply in these areas has been first and foremost to give a good return to those who, through patronage and or other means, have managed to obtain concessions for water supply and other attendant services such as water treatment.
Unfortunately, that has been the trend of privatisation in Malaysia. While privatisation was supposed to have increased the efficiency and efficacy of public services – which implies lower costs – the converse has often been true.
Any increase in efficiency often came at great cost and sometimes, despite the increased costs, the supply of services were not even as good as it was before. Profits became even more important than the provision of basic services at minimal costs.
Now many Malaysians do not dare drink water from the taps even though they were completely comfortable doing this four decades ago. They resort to filters and bottled water to avoid the risk of drinking contaminated water. Even if authorities say the water is safe, they are often put off by the variable colour and sediments in the supply.
Concessions have been given out for the supply of water. And as with many concessions given out by the government, they have been too concessional towards the holders with guaranteed tariff increases or by direct compensations by the government. It would be very difficult, if at all it is possible, to untangle the agreements.
Thus, any attempt to find a workable solution to the water woes – ranging from inadequate water in catchment areas, to lack of adequate water treatment facilities, broken pumps to old pipes and stealing of water is made difficult by these agreements between water concessionaires and the government.
Available alternatives?
And then there are major plans to bring in water from Pahang to Selangor via a pipeline through a hill at a reported cost of RM2.5 billion even before all avenues for a cheaper supply of water have been exhausted. Add on to this more money for a treatment plant which may reportedly cost between RM3 and 5 billion and we are talking really big bucks.
Alternatives are available. Engineers believe it is possible to store water from runoff following heavy rain. This will have the added benefit of mitigating floods.
There are still avenues available for getting water supply from rivers in Selangor before resorting to water from Pahang, while if water wastage and pilferage (non-revenue water or NRW) were reduced, it would help mitigate the water problem as well.
Not long ago, NRW was said to have accounted for as much as 40 percent of water supply in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Reports say NRW now still accounts for a huge 30 percent of water supply, raising questions as to why it has not been reduced further.
Yet another option is to use ground water, a solution which has been used in some countries such as Denmark, but has not been investigated fully in Malaysia.
To be sure, water is a complex issue and the solution for it has to be provided by competent, independent professionals who have been given the mandate to come up with comprehensive and cost-efficient measures to deal with the issue.
The only way to crack through this current impasse, made harder by politics and lopsided concession agreements, is for all parties to agree to set up an independent group of consultants to study the issue and make its recommendations, which should be binding on all parties.
Otherwise, there will eventually be a water crisis to dwarf all others in the Kuala Lumpur-Klang Valley area – the mother of all water crises – which will bring the capital and its environs to a grinding halt.
P GUNASEGARAM has been a journalist and analyst for over 30 years. In the coming months, he will help set up KiniBiz, an independent business news portal, in a joint venture with Malaysiakini.
Not just that, it reflects total incompetence and perhaps even outright corruption in the way the country has dealt with the overall supply and distribution of a vital resource to its populace.
Such a situation demands immediate attention and solution, but the whole thing is mired in a morass of legal, watertight agreements which all but gives water concessionaires a major hold over how, and even whether, the water problem can be settled at all.
The underlying problem of water supply disruptions in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur has one root cause – for too long has it been viewed as a means to provide private profits for entrepreneurs who have had limited or no experience in the field.
Thus, the focus on the privatisation of water supply in these areas has been first and foremost to give a good return to those who, through patronage and or other means, have managed to obtain concessions for water supply and other attendant services such as water treatment.
Unfortunately, that has been the trend of privatisation in Malaysia. While privatisation was supposed to have increased the efficiency and efficacy of public services – which implies lower costs – the converse has often been true.
Any increase in efficiency often came at great cost and sometimes, despite the increased costs, the supply of services were not even as good as it was before. Profits became even more important than the provision of basic services at minimal costs.
Now many Malaysians do not dare drink water from the taps even though they were completely comfortable doing this four decades ago. They resort to filters and bottled water to avoid the risk of drinking contaminated water. Even if authorities say the water is safe, they are often put off by the variable colour and sediments in the supply.
Concessions have been given out for the supply of water. And as with many concessions given out by the government, they have been too concessional towards the holders with guaranteed tariff increases or by direct compensations by the government. It would be very difficult, if at all it is possible, to untangle the agreements.
Thus, any attempt to find a workable solution to the water woes – ranging from inadequate water in catchment areas, to lack of adequate water treatment facilities, broken pumps to old pipes and stealing of water is made difficult by these agreements between water concessionaires and the government.
Available alternatives?
And then there are major plans to bring in water from Pahang to Selangor via a pipeline through a hill at a reported cost of RM2.5 billion even before all avenues for a cheaper supply of water have been exhausted. Add on to this more money for a treatment plant which may reportedly cost between RM3 and 5 billion and we are talking really big bucks.
Alternatives are available. Engineers believe it is possible to store water from runoff following heavy rain. This will have the added benefit of mitigating floods.
There are still avenues available for getting water supply from rivers in Selangor before resorting to water from Pahang, while if water wastage and pilferage (non-revenue water or NRW) were reduced, it would help mitigate the water problem as well.
Not long ago, NRW was said to have accounted for as much as 40 percent of water supply in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Reports say NRW now still accounts for a huge 30 percent of water supply, raising questions as to why it has not been reduced further.
Yet another option is to use ground water, a solution which has been used in some countries such as Denmark, but has not been investigated fully in Malaysia.
To be sure, water is a complex issue and the solution for it has to be provided by competent, independent professionals who have been given the mandate to come up with comprehensive and cost-efficient measures to deal with the issue.
The only way to crack through this current impasse, made harder by politics and lopsided concession agreements, is for all parties to agree to set up an independent group of consultants to study the issue and make its recommendations, which should be binding on all parties.
Otherwise, there will eventually be a water crisis to dwarf all others in the Kuala Lumpur-Klang Valley area – the mother of all water crises – which will bring the capital and its environs to a grinding halt.
P GUNASEGARAM has been a journalist and analyst for over 30 years. In the coming months, he will help set up KiniBiz, an independent business news portal, in a joint venture with Malaysiakini.
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