SHAH ALAM, August 16: The Selangor State Government wants a holistic approach in addressing the issue of water treatment and supply which is still being discussed with the Federal Government.
The Executive Councillor in charge of Plantation Workers, Poverty and Caring Government, V Ganabatirau stressed that Selangor wants alternative suggestions that are more economical but effective to be explored and refined in the negotiations before the State Government agrees on the constriction of the Sungai Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant (Langat 2).
“The State Government must find long-term solutions and take into account the interests and welfare of the people. We are aware that the Langat 2 project will incur a huge cost and it would certainly burden the State Government and the people,” he said when contacted.
He said this in response to the statement by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid today who announced that negotiations with the State Government on Langat 2 has made progress.
Ganabatirau said that the State Government’s official position in this latest development will only be announced by the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, at the right time.
The Langat 2 project is expected to cost RM8 billion, and it will treat 1.89 billion litres of raw water for the needs of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya till 2025.
The State Government submitted several alternative proposals; among them is the upgrading of the Sungai Selangor reservoir in Bestari Jaya.
Being more cost efficient, the project is expected to channel 2,000 million litres per day, or 20 percent more than the amount of water needed daily by the Klang Valley.
Also proposed is the completion of the mitigation 1 project and mitigation 2 project development involving the Sungai Selangor Phase 1 (SSP1) Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and the Sungai Selangor Phase 3 (SSP3) WTP.
Both mitigation projects are capable of producing over 600 million litres of treated water per day.
The abandoned water treatment facilities in Bukit Jelutong have also been proposed to increase the water capacity to 50 million litres per day.
“Currently, the water crisis is deliberately being staged by certain parties. However, we do not rule out that we need more water to come because Selangor is a developed and rapidly developing state,” stressed Ganabatirau.
These cost-effective measures will be proposed by the State Government as it is concerned that Selangor consumers have to bear the burden of high water tariffs due to the Langat 2 construction project.