SOME 340,000 account holders are receiving 20 cubic metres of free water every month under Skim Air Darul Ehsan (SADE).
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said this figure was below the targeted 600,000 accounts.
“This could be because many people do not know about the scheme.
“We will intensify efforts to inform the public via community leaders,” he said.
Apart from residential properties, houses of worship were also entitled to benefit from the scheme, he added.
Amirudin said there had not been a jump in applications for SADE, which was introduced four years ago, following the review of water tariffs on Feb 1 this year.
Amirudin said the state government had no plans to loosen the qualifying criteria, which included a household income of less than RM5,000.
“We suspect more households qualify,” he said after attending Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd’s fifth anniversary event at a community hall in Batu Caves, Gombak.
Also present were Air Selangor chief executive officer Adam Saffian Ghazali, Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) deputy president Adi Faizal Ahmad Tarmizi and Gombak district officer Azlina Abdul Aziz.
The event saw food aid distributed to 300 low-income families and welfare homes in Gombak as part of the Box of Hopes programme, which was Air Selangor’s corporate social responsibility initiative.
Adam Saffian said since the inception of the food aid programme in 2020, more than 6,000 households statewide have benefitted.
“The initiative is hoped to foster stronger cooperation between Air Selangor and local communities at grassroots level,” he said.
Amirudin lauded Air Selangor’s move, adding that through various initiatives, the state government has managed to eliminate hardcore poverty in Selangor.
“Data obtained in July 2023 indicated that there were about 8,000 households living with less than RM1,000 a month.
“We engaged with various government agencies to provide aid,” he said.
For information on SADE, go to www.airselangor.com/residential/skim-air-darul-ehsan/
