.JPG "The Indah Water logo is pictured at the Pantai 2 Sewage Treatment Plant in Kuala Lumpur July 25, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Mukhriz Hazim")
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 ― National Sewerage Company, Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) has expressed hope that the government will consider an increase in sewerage tariff rates in the first quarter of next year.
Its chief executive officer M. Narendan said a proposal for the tariff increase had been presented to the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources.
“For 25 years there had been no increase in sewerage services rates ... currently the operating cost is RM18 per household but we only charge RM0.08 sen per cubic metre and this is among the lowest in the world.
“We have submitted our proposal and are just waiting for the government to respond, we hope to get an approval,” he told reporters after launching a special book titled ‘Spurring the Nation’ in conjunction with the company’s 25th anniversary here today.
He also assured that the proposed amount was minimal and would not burden the public.
Narendan said the company had submitted two options, the first to streamline the tariff for all domestic service categories to RM8 while excluding the low-income (B40) group and those registered under e-Kasih.
The second option was a minimal RM2 increase for each category.
On the integration of water and IWK sewerage billing, Narendan said the signing of a joint-billing agreement with one of the water operators would be held this Friday and its implementation is expected to begin next year.
“Apart from facilitating ease of payment for customers the move also aims to increase efficiency in annual collection rate by up to 90 per cent as currently collection rate is at 57 per cent,” he said. ― Bernama
