PUTRAJAYA: The Environment and Water Ministry has announced two incentives to reduce the financial burden of water companies during the Movement Control Order (MCO) to ensure continuous water supply.
Its Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) is giving exemption on the annual licence fee to individual licence holders by as much as 30% of their total revenue.
The move, he said, would provide a saving of RM24 mil to the licence holders while being a revenue loss to SPAN.
Besides that, he said, the Water Asset Management Company (PAAB) is suspending its existing water asset lease payment for three months from April, involving a total of RM100 mil in payment suspension.
“The suspension is only applicable to lease agreements on state government water supply loans, taken over by PAAB through the restructuring of the country’s water services industry,” he said in a statement today.
Tuan Ibrahim said MCO has affected water companies financially as there was a 60% decrease in demand for water by the industrial and commercial sectors, besides having to bear escalating operating costs, especially the cost of chemicals such as chlorine and electricity bill.
This is due to SPAN’s directive to water operators to increase the chlorine content of treated water from 0.2 parts per million (ppm) to 0.5 ppm to destroy Covid-19 virus as advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Other costs include electricity, which is 50% of the operation cost to produce one cubic metre of clean water, he added.
Tuan Ibrahim said the ministry through SPAN will continue to monitor water supply during MCO and take the necessary measures. – April 16, 2020, Bernama
