Audit: Implementation of LRAL2 phase 1 yet to meet objective

According to the Auditor General's Report (LKAN) 2019 Series 2 released today, the performance of the project was unsatisfactory as the delay in completing the water distribution system work package had hampered the distribution of treated water to the northern and western corridors.

At the same time, the management of the project was inefficient because there were significant weaknesses at the project planning stage involving the delay in finalising the Restructuring of the Water Services Industry for Selangor.

In addition, the report said that the land acquisition and alienation to the Federal Land Commissioner had not been completed and the expenditure made for Phase 1 was RM2,853.70 million, exceeding the allocation approved by the Cabinet (RM2,103 million).

"The full operation of treated water pumps, generators, transformers and the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system according to specification also cannot be ensured as the complete components of the LRAL2 project have not been integrated," the report said.

The LKAN recommended that the Environment and Water Ministry (KASA) monitor the completion of the construction work of the water distribution system according to the set time period as an improvement action.

Apart from that, Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB) and KASA also needed to expedite the land acquisition process and land alienation application to the Federal Land Commissioner, and take immediate action on all pending testing and commissioning works.

Meanwhile, the Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Project (PPAMPS), which is among the solution to the clean water supply issue in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya until 2025, has yet to meet the target of distributing 1,890 million litres of water per day, due to the delay in the LRAL2 project.

According to the LKAN, the delay had caused the capacity of raw water distribution from Pahang to Selangor to only achieve 623 million litres per day for six months until 2020.

"Overall, the implementation of the PPAMPS is satisfactory, however coordination at the ministry, Pahang and Selangor state governments, as well as relevant departments and agencies has to be increased," the report said.

Besides that, issues involving financial management, ownership and reservation of PPAMPS, quantity and quality of raw water, PPAMPS maintenance and encroachment of dam areas needed thorough planning and action because the problems have not been resolved although the project has been completed.

Therefore, LKAN recommended KASA to take improvement measures in the management of future projects, such as ensuring the ownership and reservation of land are finalised before the completion of the project, to ensure the transfer of asset ownership of infrastructure projects to receiving agencies is not affected.