'MP's criticism over Syabas inaccurate'

Syabas Corporate Communications and Public Affairs assistant general manager, Priscilla Alfred, said such claims were not true as disruptions were caused, among others, due to inadequate water for consumers.

"It (water problem) was caused by three main factors, namely, inadequate raw water supply, lack of water treatment capacity and lack of capacity of the distribution system to channel water to consumers.

"The three factors are currently under the jurisdiction of different bodies, namely, Selangor State Government, company operating the treatment plants and Syabas itself," she said when commenting on a statement by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad from PAS in a local newspaper dated April 21, which among others, claimed the water problem was caused by Syabas' failure to tackle problems of leaked pipes which had caused wastage.

Commenting further on Khalid's allegation, Priscilla said the existing water treatment plants were no longer able to accommodate consumers' demand.

She said the problem was also caused by inadequate raw water supply following the decision to shut down two water treatment plants at the 11th Mile, Cheras and Bukit Tampoi, because the water could not be treated due its high ammonia content.

In addition, she said the decision to conduct water rationing was also influenced by the level of raw water at the Sungai Selangor dam and Klang Gates dropping to the critical levels.

Priscilla said the inability of the existing distribution system to channel water from water treatment plants also resulted in treated water not reaching consumers.

"The antiquated pipes have resulted in leakages and burst pipes to simultaneously contribute to the loss of non-revenue water," she said.

Priscilla hoped the explanation would give a better understanding of the actual situation which had taken place in the water supply industry.