Batu Pahat and Pontian may face water supply disruptions too

KULAIJAYA: The Batu Pahat and Pontian districts will have to face scheduled water supply if the hot spell persists.

State Public Works executive committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the water level at the Sembrong Timur dam in Kluang, which supplies water for usage, was currently about 5% away from the critical level.

He said the Bekok and Machap dams have also fallen below the normal level especially those supplying water to the Kluang district.

“The water at the dam can sustain supply for only another two weeks. If the weather continues to be dry, we will have to limit supply to Pontian and Batu Pahat as well,” he said when met after the pre-launch of the Rural Transformation Centre here yesterday.

Hasni said that so far, Kluang was the only district undergoing the scheduled water exercise which began on Feb 18.

He explained that there were two categories of dam in the state – for storing water supply and for flood mitigation.

Hasni said that, unfortunately, the Bekok and Machap flood mitigation dams were currently facing pollution problems.

He also said the state government was awaiting the greenlight from the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to carry out cloud seeding.

At a separate press conference, Senai assemblywoman Wong Shu Qi called on the Federal Government to hold a debate on the water issue in Parliament.

She said the current water crisis should be raised at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting as more states would be experiencing dry spells.

“The Government should address the issue and discuss it until a long-term solution is reached,” she said.