SHAH ALAM, Jan 23 — The Selangor government is testing the quality of water it is buying from Pahang following the issue of bauxite pollution in the east coast state.
Menteri Besar Selangor Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the step was being taken towards ensuring cost of treating polluted raw water does not burden the people in the state.
“The agreement on the purchase of raw water from Pahang stipulates the water quality must be good and safe for the people in Selangor.
“That is why we are testing the quality of the water and if the pollution is at the hazardous level, higher costs will be incurred for treating the (polluted) water,” he said.
Azmin was speaking to reporters after attending a tree-planting programme in conjunction with the opening of the Aeon hypermarket in Section 13 here today.
Some 800 volunteers planted 13,000 tree saplings in conjunction with the event.
According to him, the sampling which would be done over two months was to determine if the 10 sen per cubic metre the state is paying for the raw water from Pahang was still relevant for the quality it is getting.
Mohamed Azmin said the total amount of raw water bought from Pahang so far had not reached the maximum rate and it was channelled to the Langat 2 water treatment plant for processing.
This was because the plant had yet to be completed to run at full capacity, he said, adding that other factors the state was looking into was the possibility of a drought due to the El Nino phenomenon.
He said measures were being taken to ensure there would be adequate treated water supply in the state during the El Nino period, expected to last until September.
On the dengue situation in the state, Mohamed Azmin said the state government was working closely with the relevant parties to contain it. — Bernama
