Singapore hands over water treatment plants to Johor

JOHOR BARU: Johor will soon control at least 43 out of the 44 water treatment plants in the state after Singapore's Public Utilities Board (PUB) hands over two of the plants this Wednesday.

The Skudai and Gunung Pulai water treatment plants which were both built and managed by PUB for 50 years will be handed over to the state government together with two pump houses in Pontian and Tebrau.

With the handover of all the four assets, which are worth millions of ringgit and covering an area of 3,301ha, the state will be able to produce a total of 681 million litres of treated water per day.

The Gunung Pulai water treatment plant has at least four mini reservoirs.

Presently the 44 water treatment plants in the state are managed by four companies namely PUB, Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ), Southern Water Corporation Bhd and Equiventures Sdn Bhd.

After the handover, PUB will still operate the Linggiu Dam and Johor River water treatment plant.

It is understood that the historic event will be witnessed by VIPs from both Malaysia and Singapore, including the Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and Singaporean ministers in a special event on Aug 31.

The handover marks the end of one of the three water agreements signed with Singapore in 1961, 1962 and 1990.

The preparations for the handover have been going on for months, with State Water Regulatory Body and State Economic Planning Unit working with SAJ to send its workers for training to handle the machinery.

PUB will buy water at 3sen for each 1,000 gallons of water and sells treated water to Johor at 50sen per 1,000 gallons.