IPOH, May 16 — For residents of Kampung Ayer Ganda in Gerik, Hulu Perak, the days of uncertainty when they turned on their taps only to have nothing flowing out is a thing of the past.
An 11.5km pipe and booster pump system following the shutdown of the Ayer Ganda water treatment plant last month over concerns of arsenic poisoning, now connects the Lawin water treatment plant to the village.
“The water supply has been restored since Tuesday,” Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said today after launching the Digital Perak Corporation Holding office at the Perak Techno Trade Centre here.
Ahmad Faizal said the Perak Water Board managed to complete the RM1.32 million project in five weeks.
“The project has been completed a lot earlier than it was scheduled.
“With this, the residents of Kampung Ayer Ganda can carry on their fasting and celebrate Hari Raya comfortably,” he said.
On April 4, state Education, Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Abdul Aziz Bari revealed the discovery of arsenic by the authorities in water from Sungai Rui in Hulu Perak.
Following the revelation, National Water Services Commission had ordered the state government to shut down the water treatment plant as a precautionary measure after the discovery, despite the water treatment plant showing traces of arsenic below the standard set by the World Health Organisation.
