GEORGE TOWN, Nov 21 — Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) resolved the recent unscheduled water supply disruption in Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS) within 24 hours, said PBAPP Chief Executive Officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa.
He said the completion period was faster than the key performance indicator (KPI) set by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) which was 36 hours if it involved unscheduled water supply disruptions involving pipelines between 200 and 600mm.
“The KPI is applicable to all water supply service licensees in Peninsular Malaysia and even the water supply problem in SPS recently has nothing to do with PBAP scheduled work,” he said in a statement today.
He also denied an incident of scheduled water supply disruption on the night of the Deepavali festival as alleged, adding that PBAPP would not cut water supply without giving notifications as claimed by a Chinese-language press report published on Nov 15.
He said inspections conducted on all major pipelines in the affected areas revealed no such incidents of pipe ruptures.
“Further investigations showed that the increase in water consumption on Nov 11 caused the water pumps at the Wellesley and Sungai Duri pumphouses to stop automatically when there was not enough water to pump. Efforts were made by the PBAPP staff to divert water supply to the pump houses,” he said.
As a long-term solution, PBAPP plans to reconfigure the existing water supply network system to the SPS district to achieve better distribution pressure within three months, he added. — Bernama
