GEORGE TOWN, March 21 — The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PWSC) will suspend water meter reading operations and close its nine customer service centres from March 23 to 31.

Its chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said the initiative is in line with the nationwide implementation of the movement control order (MCO) to ensure effective social distancing in efforts to prevent Covid-19 infection.

"Other services that will also be temporarily suspended are water supply disconnection and face-to-face bill collection,” he said in a statement here today.

However, Jaseni said services such as water supply reconnection and pipe repair works, raw water abstraction, water treatment and 24-hour call service would operate as usual.

He said the PWSC will focus on its critical responsibility of supplying water to 631,250 registered consumers in Penang throughout the period.

Jaseni added that several non-critical services would also be temporarily suspended to further restrict the movement of the public and minimise public health risks during the MCO period.

He said during that period, PWSC will not disconnect water supply to any registered consumer, however, they are advised to pay their water bills on time to prevent complications and misunderstandings in the future.

"PWSC will issue water bills based on consumers’ estimated water consumption from previous months.

"Consumers can pay their bills online or cash via Pos Malaysia, Paylink kiosks, automated teller machines and authorised collection agencies, such as Happy Mart,” he said. — Bernama