The Selangor government has no plans to increase the water tariff at a time when the people are still facing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said.

He said the water tariff issue will be discussed when the time is right.

“We do not have any intention to raise the water tariff in the midst of a pandemic. However, water management sustainability is something that must be discussed as it involves all states and not just Selangor alone.

“… this is because when services (water industry) are not channelled properly, it will burden the consumers. So, we have to be rational, and not gain political mileage. I am not going to raise the water tariff, but we have plans when the time is right,” he said when launching the Roda Darul Ehsan Initiative (RIDE) programme here yesterday.

Amirudin was responding to queries on the latest development on earlier proposal to review the water tariff in all states, including Selangor, that was first raised when the Federal government under Pakatan Harapan rule.

In the Dewan Rakyat today, the government gave the assurance that it will not increase the water tariff as the people are faced with economic burdens and the COVID-19 pandemic which has not yet ended.

Meanwhile, on the defacement of the mural depicting the country’s leaders in Taman Cahaya Alam Section U12, Shah Alam, Amirudin suggested that the artists behind the murals find a more suitable location if they intend to paint again.

The murals, which had gone viral and attracted the attention of some of the leaders portrayed, were found to have been defaced with red spray paint yesterday.

The murals featured portraits of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

-- BERNAMA