(From left) Taman Melawati River Three Park representative Mansor Abdul Ghani, Izham, Hasrolnizam and Julaihah planting flowers near a river in Taman Melawati during the launch.
THE Sungai Rasau water treatment plant project in Selangor has cleared another hurdle as the Federal Government has agreed to inject RM1.3bil in funds.
The grant, which reportedly faced delays before, will go towards preliminary works at catchment areas to supply raw water to the treatment plant.
Such works included deepening of rivers and tributaries, said Selangor infrastructure, public amenities, agriculture modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim.
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“The Federal Government has agreed to undertake preliminary works on such areas that will later be connected to the treatment plant.
“These works, which will take place in the upstream areas, are outside the scope of the Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.
“They will instead undertake works from the intake point and on the piping system, costing RM3bil,” he said, adding that the plant would extract water from Sungai Klang.
The Sungai Rasau project comprises two phases – Phase One to supply 700 million litres a day while Phase Two will double the capacity to 1.4 billion litres a day.
“Tenders for Phase One have been given out and work is expected to start this month,” said Izham at an event in Taman Melawati to launch Friends of Rivers (FoR), a state government initiative to involve local communities in river monitoring and rejuvenation efforts.
During the March state assembly sitting, Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng asked for clarification on the status of the RM1.3bil grant.
Ng, who chairs the Selangor water resource management special select committee, raised concerns that further delays could push back the project completion beyond 2024.
On a related matter, Izham said works to instal pipes to distribute water from the Labohan Dagang treatment plant was proceeding smoothly.
“There were delays because of movement restrictions, but works have recently resumed.
“We are targeting to finish within this year and to start construction of Phase Two of the plant in 2024,” he added.
The treatment plant that began operating in November 2019, extracts water from Sungai Langat and supplies to households in Kuala Langat.
Also present at the launch was Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) director Hasrolnizam Shaari, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council secretary Julaihah Jamaludin and Hulu Kelang assemblyman Saari Sungib.
Izham noted that FoR, which came under Luas’ purview, received funding from the state government to carry out its activities.
“So far, we have 38 such associations in Selangor and plans are afoot to increase the number and encourage more participation.
“We will accept anyone from village heads and local councillors to non-governmental organisations who are interested in river care efforts,” he said.
