Precious commodity: Water tanks are provided at every lane in Taman Widuri for the convenience of residents when there is a lack of water. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
NIBONG TEBAL: The days of dry taps during peak hours affecting thousands of residents here will soon be over with the completion of several major projects by the state.
Several projects costing close to RM25mil are now underway and will be ready by January, benefitting 18,242 users.
The projects will help restore water pressure in those areas and support future needs for development, Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Pathmanathan Krishnan Kutty Raman Nair said.
PBAPP has presented to the state government an initiative dubbed the SPS Action Plan 2023, which involves four projects in targeted areas.
“They are a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) plant at the Bukit Panchor Water Treatment Plant (WTP) with a capacity of 10 million litres per day (MLD) costing RM18.6mil, a compact WTP in Sungai Kerian with a capacity of 2.4 MLD costing RM4mil, new suction tanks in the Pumping Station of Taman Widuri and Taman Wellesley costing RM1.2mil, and a portable WTP in Taman Sungai Duri Indah costing RM800,000.
“They will all be completed by January next year,” he said.
Pathmanathan said while the four projects are in progress, a temporary pumping station in Permatang Tinggi was completed in November last year.
For the longer term, PBAPP has planned a water treatment plant (WTP) with a capacity of 141 million litres daily (MLD) to benefit 55,000 users in south Seberang Prai district.
For years, south Seberang Prai district has faced problems as Penang’s primary water source is Sungai Muda in the north.
The problem of low water pressure has become the latest “bullet” from Penang PAS in its political campaign.
In a video that has gone viral, residents are seen sharing their grouses about the lack of water.
Checks with families in several neighbourhoods showed they were suffering from the predicament.
Mechanic Mohd Shafwan Abdul Rahim, 39, from Taman Seruling Emas, said the drop in water pressure would usually occur between 7pm and midnight.“At times, supply would be cut off entirely. I have to always remember to store water during the day. We store them in large plastic bins,” he said.
In Taman Widuri nearby, technician S. Chandran Morgan, 43, said he would drive about 12km to his mother’s house in Kampung Trans Krian whenever the water supply was cut at his house.
“It usually occurs between 6pm and 11pm. I have lived here over the last eight years when there was less development and it was fine. In the last two years, it has become really bad,” he said.
Sungai Bakap assemblyman Datuk Dr Amar Pritpal said since the pandemic, there had been rapid growth in industrial areas in the region leading to water scarcity.
Amar challenged the opposition parties to show the improvements they could make instead of just picking on the problems.
Penang Perikatan Nasional deputy chairman Oh Tong Keong, who met with locals recently, lamented the lack of initiatives to resolve the issue.
“The major utilities there were built in the early 80s and are in need of a total revamp now.
“The slow response by the state is a sign of their lack of attention to the needs of the people there,” he said.
