PETALING JAYA, Oct 3 — Was it sheer negligence or an act of sabotage?

These were questions raised as the authorities continued with their probe into last month’s water shortage which affected more than 50,000 residents in Subang’s USJ suburb.

As police continued their investigations following a report lodged on Sept 9, Malay Mail learnt that a person of authority with the utility board’s technical department has come under the spotlight.

State Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Agriculture Modernisation and Agro-based Industry committee chairman Zaidy Abdul Talib believes the said individual was responsible for the flow of water to supply pipes from the mains.

“The individual is a person of authority in the technical department in charge of controlling water flow.

“Whoever he may be, he had the authority to open and shut the valves connecting the water supply to residents in Klang and Shah Alam,” he explained.

“Standard operating procedures were not complied with before and after closing of the valves.”

Following an initial inquiry, the State Government also learnt the staff had failed to adhere to filing the necessary paperwork on operational procedures.

“The standard operating procedures under such circumstances required a maintenance report to be filed, and superiors informed of steps undertaken during the entire process,” Zaidy said.

An engineer who requested anonymity explained valves being discussed by authorities was probably the control valves, and these respond to signals generated by independent devices such as flow meters or temperature gauges. 

There are ball and butterfly type valves and these are commonly used in local distribution.

Meanwhile, police confirmed investigations were still underway. Shah Alam police chief ACP Shafien Mamat said an individual was summoned to have his statement taken down, and later released.

The disruption affected homes and business premises in greater Kuala Lumpur before supply was reported to have been restored.

Hardly had the restoration been welcomed when the Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment plant was shut down following the flow of contaminants into the facility on Sept 22.

This resulted in more than a million consumers affected by water disruptions over the past week.