Selangor water business plan expected to propose new tariffs

The management of Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) will submit its three-year business plan, expected to include new water tariffs in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), next month. Air Selangor chief executive officer Suhaimi Kamaralzaman said the business plan took into consideration the operational costs as well as water management capital costs in the three areas. "However, any review of the proposed water tariffs are subject to SPAN's agreement," he told reporters today. He was speaking after a ceremony to hand over water assets to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) for a project to replace seabed water pipes to Pulau Ketam by the secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTHA), Datuk Loo Took Gee. In October last year, Air Selangor took over from Syabas and Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd as the provider of water supply services to consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Suhaimi said the cost of maintaining the new seabed water pipes to Pulau Ketam was among the factors being studied under the Air Selangor business plan next month. In her speech, Loo said since the pipes to Pulau Ketam were installed between 1992 to 2013, there had been six serious incidents of broken pipes and disruption of treated water supply to the residents. "To overcome the problem of broken pipes, the federal government had allocated RM38 million to replace existing water pipes so as to ensure the comfort of the people of Pulau Ketam as well as to save on long-term maintenance costs. "The consultant and contractor were appointed through open tender. The project began in September 2013 and has been in operation since May 17, 2015," she said. Loo added that the project was from the Pulau Indah Highway to Pulau Kelang, covering a distance of 5.8km with 3.8km of 450mm-sized pipes on land and almost 2km of 406mm-sized soft steel pipes (according to the standards of the American Petroleum Industry) underwater. She said since the new pipes were operational last year, more than 6,000 consumers on Pulau Ketam enjoyed uninterrupted continuous and quality water supply. – Bernama, February 15, 2016.]]>