KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — More than 30,000 residents in the Kuala Muda, Kedah have had to endure disrupted water supply following the current hot weather, said Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar.
He said among the affected areas were Merbok, Tanjung Dawai, Bedong, Semeling, and Singkir.
Dr Xavier said the dry weather had affected the supply of raw water to three water treatment centres which supplied water to the affected areas, causing the Tupah Headwork, Merbok Headwork and Gurun water treatment plants to produce only 50 per cent of treated water.
“Among the mitigating measures taken by Syarikat Air Darul Aman (SADA) include sending water in rented tanker lorries, getting the assistance of water operators, and placing static tankers at strategic places,” he said in a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
At the same time, prime mover lorries with a capacity of 5,000 gallons from the Fire Brigade were also used while the Mineral and Geoscience Department also sourced out underground water.
Dr Xavier said as a long-term solution, the Federal Government had approved allocation to implement several water supply projects such as upgrading the Tupah Headwork and Bukit Selambau water treatment plants, and replacing pipes in the Tanjung Dawai area under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11MP) which could increase the capacity of treated water to the Kuala Muda area.
He added that several areas in Johor, namely Kota Tinggi, Pontian and Simpang Renggam, also experienced disruption in the supply of treated water following the drop in the level of treated water.
However, he said, monitoring by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) found that the level of raw water in most of the dams were at a manageable situation.
“Dams where there has been a drop in raw water levels are small, which are three dams in Johor (Lebam Dam, Layang Dam and Pulai 2 Dam),” he said.
Dr Xavier also urged the public to use water wisely to avoid wastage so that water supplies could last longer. — Bernama
