PUTRAJAYA, April 26 – The country would have saved at least RM700 million so far had the Selangor state government not dragged its feet in approving the construction of the Langat 2 water treatment plant, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin said today.
He said so far the federal government had to approve this amount to build several mitigation projects to ensure adequate water supply to Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya which would not have been necessary had the project, now 32 months behind schedule, been allowed to proceed on schedule.
He said the Langat 2 project was planned way back in 2000 based on the findings of experts, who highlighted that the plant, which would treat raw water from Pahang, was the best option in view of the rapid increase in population and industrial development in these regions.
“At the end of the day, you still have to build Langat 2 and yet you still have to spend this additonal cost. This is the result of what is happening today just because the Selangor government did not agree to our proposal, keep on dragging and dragging until we say, what to do, the people are suffering,” he told Bernama in an interview.
Chin also reacted strongly to the Selangor state government’s stand for opposing Langat 2 in that it was due to it giving more importance on plans to restructure the water industry and dismissing that Langat 2 was merely an “operational issue”.
“This kind of reasoning is totally without basis whatsoever. You mean while we are only having a reserve margin (of water) only two per cent and you are still saying it’s an operational issue? With all the treatment plants that we already have, they can only give us two per cent reserve! To me, it’s a structural issue. We should have a bigger plant that can give us more water so that our reserve margin will go up and we all can be comfortable about it,” he said.
He cited the case of the recent incident in Batu Caves when pipes burst due to heavy rains that disrupted supply to some 500,000 people. It could have been avoided if there was enough reserve that would enable water to be diverted from other areas to other plants to bypass the burst pipes.
“So this two per cent margin is very, very serious. Something you cannot just say is an operational issue,” said Chin, who also rubbished allegations by opposition politicians that Selangor’s water disruptions were politically motivated.
Chin described such allegations as “too wild, and could only come from people with wicked minds”.
“Why should we as a government which has run this country for so long do such a thing? Just look at the Barisan Nasional election manifesto where we say we will deliver a much better future for the people. A better future means the people’s access to water, too”, he said.
The minister said if the Selangor state government continued to drag its feet on the water issue and block efforts to ensure water security, the higher would be the costs of related projects and it’s the tax-payers who would have to bear the costs.
He explained that the most basic issue was lack of raw water sources and no matter what alternative plans the state government would like to counter-propose in its delay tactics, it would come to nought if there was no new sources of raw water available.
“We will have to bring water from somewhere else because there is not enough raw water sources in Selangor. We already have a plan and agreement of buying water from Pahang, so why are we not going through it?”
Chin reiterated that the Cabinet had decided to go ahead with Langat 2 and the government was now in the final stage of awarding the tender to the successful bidder.
“Definitely, we will award it and with or without Selangor government’s cooperation we will proceed with this very, very important plant.
I hope that when the contractor begins construction, there will be no more obstruction because the target date of 2016 is not that far away. Any further delay to the project will result in acute water shortages and more sufferings for the people,” he added.
BERNAMA
