SHAH ALAM, March 9 — Claims that the Selangor state government has not managed its water supply well are false, said Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
Rubbishing allegations that Selangor had failed in its water management, he said water shortage has never been an issue for Selangor.
“Water cuts only happen when maintenance work has to be carried out periodically and following a proper schedule,” he said at the Selangor and Pahang state boundary line agreement and the memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at the Concorde Hotel here today.
“We have also replaced pipes in 48 hotspots. This exercise has been carried out two years consecutively.
“In the first place, facilities that have these problems are owned by SPLASH (Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd), not the state government,” he said.
Azmin added that the state government had limitations in addressing problems in the facilities as they do not yet have jurisdiction over them.
“If it’s not our asset, how do you expect us to move into these facilities to do maintenance? We are still in the process of taking over from them,” he said.
“Nevertheless, since production levels early this year have dropped, Air Selangor has been triggered to monitor the cause.”
“As we cannot enter the facilities, that’s where the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara comes in,” he added.
Azmin also said the Semenyih 2 water treatment plant that cost RM177 million was proof that the Selangor government had taken proactive steps to ensure an adequate water supply.
“We just completed Semenyih 2 that cost us RM177 million. It’s been in operation since March 1,” he said.
The water disruption in several areas in the Klang Valley since Wednesday is expected to end over the weekend despite an explosion at the surge vessel system at the Sungai Selangor water treatment plant in Ijok, Selangor, during maintenance work.
