Water disruption: Consumers should be given discounts on water bill

Consumers affected by the unscheduled water supply disruption in the Klang Valley since Thursday, should be given a discount on their water bill as compensation for the hardship caused, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said.

It's secretary-general, J.Solomon said the people should not tolerate this anymore as the Federal Territory and Selangor had suffered the most number of unscheduled water supply interruptions from 2014 up to 2018.

The figures from the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) also show that Selangor topped the list for unscheduled water cuts annually accounting for half of the incidents nationwide.

“The most disappointing aspect of this water cut is, it was found that the culprit is a repeat offender, who had been fined RM60,000 for the first time a few years ago.

“How did the licensing authorities and the enforcement officers allow this factory to continue discharging their wastes into this raw water source for the rakyat? They have failed to monitor this factory and others located near the rivers so these factories could secretly dump their wastes there,” he said in a statement today.

He also questioned if the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) enforcement team has carried out regular inspections as faulty machines and equipment were also the cause of frequent unscheduled water cuts in the past.

He said this continuous hardship is contrary to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 which is access to clean water and sanitation for the people, thus urging for a change of attitude in the agencies concerned.

Meanwhile Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas), Pengurusan Air Selangor and other agencies must be proactive and act before similar incidents recur.

“They must fix the problem once and for all. They must stop giving excuses or offer standard explanations to say they are investigating. What happened to the previous cases? Why haven’t the final reports been made public? What measures have been put in place to assure the people that the incident will not be repeated?” he asked.

Lee also said that the water polluters and the habitual offenders deserve harsher punishment as they are responsible for causing severe inconvenience and hardship to the people and threatening their safety and livelihood.

“Imposing fines are insufficient, if the situation warrants it there should be mandatory imprisonment,” he said.

-- BERNAMA