Water crisis: Heads must roll, now!

By Cheah Chor Sooi

THE inconvenience of having to grapple with water cuts at a time when personal hygiene is of utmost importance to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is irking consumers at large – from households to small businesses, industries and multinational companies.

No word can describe the harrowing experience of Klang Valley folks who have to endure incessant water disruption, the most recent being after four treatment plants were shut down at 2am on Oct 19 due to odour pollution caused by solvent pollution at Sungai Selangor.

The latest incident has prevented Air Selangor from outputting the daily 2,700 million litres of water to affected areas, thus affecting 1,196,457 Air Selangor accounts.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Selangor & Kuala Lumpur has warned that the frequent water disruptions – with as many as four unscheduled water cuts in the last two months – will spook investors in Selangor.

FMM’s Selangor and Kuala Lumpur branch chairman Jacob Lee was cited by the Free Malaysia Today news portal as saying that water supply recovery should be prioritised to industrial areas, in view of their economic contribution.

He even called on the Selangor state government to allow manufacturers to utilise underground water, with a minimal fee, to complement treated water supply.

Buck up or ship out

It is good that the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) is in the midst of amending the LUAS Enactment 1999 to increase the minimum fine to RM200,000 or not exceeding RM1 million, and a jail term of up to three years for river polluters in Selangor.

But is this enough?

Perhaps pointing fingers at the culprits alone will not solve the issue. The time is probably ripe for heads of water authorities nationwide (including the minister in-charge) to emulate the accountability spirit of their Japanese counterparts, by graciously stepping down for failing to prevent a repeat of massive water disruption.

Such action will resonate with the call by Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye who has reminded politicians to use their time and energy to alleviate the people’s burdens, instead of jockeying for positions.

“After all, weren’t all their pre-election manifestos about serving the rakyat?

“The people need them to act now. They are not interested at this time who runs the government and who governs,” Lee said.

This will then enable a right-minded leader to formulate a viable plan to tackle the frequent disruption issue rather than leaving it unresolved.

The same principle can be applied to other utilities, be it electricity (in the event of a major blackout), broadband coverage, sewerage, garbage disposal, etc.

By doing so, people heading the various utilities will be pressured to perform their task both professionally and in a manner that commensurate with their high remuneration. – Oct 20, 2020

Cheah Chor Sooi is the editor of FocusM. His wife has imposed strict water rationing after the water tank at his house reaches the half-way mark while water supply will only be restored at his residential area on Oct 21 (according to Air Selangor’s portal). He can be reached at [email protected]

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