ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor’s water crisis, which left over 155,000 accounts without supply since Tuesday (May 20), should be seen as a crucial teachable moment for the state’s utility sector, says Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh.
The state works, transportation, infrastructure and communications committee chairman added there should not be any blame game but how the water crisis can be use as a lesson to avoid any repeat in the future.
“This is not about pointing fingers but should be about learning, fixing, and moving forward with a stronger and more resilient system.
“Let not waste this crisis but use it to push for upgrades,” he said in his winding up speech during the state assembly meeting held at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar here on Friday (May 23).
He added that the water crisis was a testing time for everyone involved especially the account holders after a pipe burst at a key pumping station caused severe flooding, damaging all nine pumps critical to supplying water from Sungai Johor to the Layang Dam and Sungai Johor water treatment plant (LRA).
Mohamad Fazli said the incident forced the LRA, which processes 318 million litres daily, to be shutdown and affecting not only residents but also schools, hospitals, industrial zones and data centres.
“I have not slept in four days and will like to apologised to fellow lawmakers for skipping scheduled questions in this August House due to the incident.
“People needed answers, and I had to lead coordination efforts with Ranhill SAJ and other agencies,” he added.
Mohamad Fazli also said that he was not acting as a spokesman for the water operator but rather as a public servant determined to provide clarity.
“People want to know what happened, why the delay, and when their taps will work again?” he said adding that the core failure was the lack of safeguards on the pumps.
He added that once water entered the facility due to a leak at one of the nine pumps, the entire station was submerged where no early alert was triggered.
“How could it get to that point before any alarm went off? It took 12 hours just to drain the water before we could even begin diagnostics,” he said.
Mohamad Fazli said that each pump had to be removed, dried in an industrial oven in Senai, and reinstalled one by one.
He added that due to the delayed restoration timelines, the state was forced to roll out emergency supply efforts including 41 water tankers and 13,000 cartons of bottled water.
Mohamad Fazli said by Thursday (May 22), two pumps were running at 50% capacity, followed by three at 75% later that afternoon with full capacity was only restored at 7pm.
He added that repair did not mean recovery as it took additional time for treated water to reach dry storage tanks and distribution networks.
Mohamad Fazli said areas like Tebrau, Kempas and Johor Baru city only regained full water supply in the early hours of Friday.
He urged Johor’s utility companies to improve risk management, adopt new technologies, and embrace a culture of excellence in their services to avoid disruption.
“We must manage disasters with dedication, data, cooperation, and modern tools because the goal is not just to fix what’s broken but to build something better for the future of Johor,” he said.
