.jpg "Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad speaks to members of the press at the Perak Mentri Besaru00e2u20acu2122s Office in Ipoh March 1, 2022. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Farhan Najib")
IPOH, March 3 — Land-strapped Penang will have to find another raw water supplier to meet the island state’s needs.
Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad today explained that joint research and studies conducted by the two state governments and the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry showed that the silver state does not have enough supply for its own use, let alone to share with Penang.
“Taking into account what had happened in the Kerian farming area where the water catchment in Bukit Merah has dried up, we had to rely on the cloud seeding to produce water source for farming activities.
“This shows that even in Perak, we have a water shortage problem. Also the Perak Economy Planning Unit revealed that the population in the state will increase to three million in 2050. More people means more need of water,” he told a news conference here.
Perak currently has about 2.4 million people.
Saarani was asked for comment on the outcome of discussions with Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow earlier this week regarding the proposed Perak Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme (SPRWTS).
He said that Chow and Penang delegates had requested Perak be its raw water supplier to prepare for a future shortage expected to happen by 2025.
The discussions began when Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu was Perak MB.
Saarani said that Ahmad Faizal had previously told the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry that his pledge to help was dependent on whether or not Perak would have enough water for its own consumption.
Saarani explained that the water from Sungai Perak, which is targeted by Penang in the proposed SPRWTS, is channelled mainly to four Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) dams, and vital for its power plants.
“The water catchment in the dams has its level. If the water level drops, then it will affect the production of electricity.
“TNB also will not agree to supply water from the dams to Penang as it will affect the performance of the dams,” he said.
Saarani also said collecting water below the Chenderong Dam as proposed by Penang is also not possible as it is scientifically researched and proven that it will affect the water supply for people in Kampung Gajah, Parit and Teluk Intan.
“It is not right if we supply water to other states by taking the water source of the people in the state,” he said.
“Due to all these reasons, we have apologised and feel sympathy with the problem faced by Penang. We can’t help Penang on this,” he added.
Saarani said Perak will soon be flooded with investors seeking to open industrial companies, citing information from Invest Perak.
“These companies will need a huge amount of water supply,” he said.
“Last week One Glove in their briefing with us informed that their company in Taiping only received 5 to 6 per cent of water supply from Perak Water Board while the balance 90 to 80 per cent of water they have to find by their own via mining,” he added.
