SHAH ALAM, 19 Dec 2018:
National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Ridhuan Ismail yesterday said low tariffs for water was among the reasons many people in the country wasted the resource here.
He noted water rates in the country was 52 sen per cubic metre, much lower compared to some neighbouring countries such as Thailand – higher at more than RM1 and Singapore at about RM3.
“With such a low price, many consumers waste the water, and don’t have much value for the resource.”
The Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources is conducting a thorough study on the potential of groundwater as a new source of water for the country, its Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said.
He said the study showed there were between three to five trillion cubic metres of groundwater across the country, and Kelantan was currently the only state which used groundwater.
He said stakeholders were holistically assessing the potential, and identifying which areas were suitable to be used.
“There are those who say that if we use groundwater, it will cause sinkholes, but in this country, it rains about 196 days, so we have no problem,” he said during Sinar Harian‘s discourse on water conservation here.
On the increase in water tariff rates, Dr Xavier said the government had to do it to ensure the water industry remained healthy.
He said, however, the government would impose reasonable water tariffs and ensure the B40 group did not feel the brunt.
“There are states where the tariffs have not been raised in 30 years, while the expenditures for managing this industry is according to the current rates.”
– Bernama