TheSun:Royal help sought over water crisis

The ongoing dispute between Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) and the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled Selangor has intensified with a call for royal intervention.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Youth Wing (AMK) will organise another march to Istana Alam Shah in Klang this Friday to submit a memorandum asking Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj to intervene in the dispute.

The memorandum will urge the Selangor Sultan to order Syabas to hand over the water concession to the state government

"Many steps have been taken by the Selangor AMK and Pakatan Rakyat leadership to solve the problem but it seems that Syabas under Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is resolute in not doing anything to help the state government.

"Memoranda after memoranda had also been sent to the Syabas management and even the Istana Negara but nothing positive has turned up," Selangor AMK chief Azmizam Zamanhuri told a press conference today.

On Sunday, Syabas placed full-page advertisements in several major newspapers to rebut Selangor's claims over the ongoing Klang Valley water crisis.

It was seen as a public relations drive to counter the statements made against Syabas by Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who alleged that the water disruption in parts of the Klang Valley was due to the company's failure to maintain the pumps in Wangsa Maju and Pudu Hulu Baru.

In its advertisements, Syabas stated that the latest disruption affected over 27,000 accounts in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas due to the decline in the water pumping level from the Wangsa Maju pump house by 30 million litre per day (MLD).

It also stated that the water supply was restored late last Thursday, after the installation of bypass pipes from Air Dusun Kubong pool to AU3 Baru and AU3 Lama pools to the relief of some half a million residents in the Klang Valley who were affected by water disruptions for more than two weeks.

Syabas said that the Wangsa Maju pump house was working at a limited level of 180 MLD as compared to 210 MLD previously to avoid damage due to over-pressure.--TheSun