New treatment plants in the pipeline

The Federal Government will be investing RM923mil for 12 water projects in the state. — filepic

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor government has announced 12 water infrastructure projects and conservation initiatives to deal with water supply in the state.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said all development projects involved an allocation of RM925.6mil from the Federal Government, and RM130mil from the state government.

“Water infrastructure in Johor will be developed through an allocation from Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) worth RM925.6mil and this involves 12 major projects,” he said while tabling the state budget 2018 at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar.

The projects involve the construction of new water treatment plants at Buluh Kasap in Segamat, Sungai Layang 2 in Johor Baru, Pagoh in Muar and a new tank in Labis.

He also added that two initiatives, by the state government, involved the construction of the Kahang water treatment plant worth RM100mil and a raw water supply project at Layang 2 (Phase Two) from Seluyut dam to Upper Layang dam worth RM30mil.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Khaled also said a total of RM8mil has been allocated to the Johor Water Regulatory Body (Bakaj) in the 2018 budget for nine water conservation initiatives.

“The initiatives also include the management of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Sungai Johor with a cost of RM2mil, Sungai Johor weir barrage installation project (RM1.2mil) and water source projects in various districts (RM2.4mil),” he said.

Mohamed Khaled added that for water supply projects in rural areas in Johor, the Federal Government approved an allocation of RM5mil for 2018.

Meanwhile, the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) received a development allocation of RM35mil to carry out maintenance work including flood mitigation projects throughout Johor.