PONTIAN: With Chinese New Year and Ramadan merely days away, families in Benut here are scrambling to store water as scheduled supply cuts stretch into their second week.
For father of two, Loh Eng Hock, 58, the disruption could not have come at a worse time as his family was preparing to welcome Chinese New Year.
The Benut community leader said that about 5,000 Chinese residents in the area have been affected for almost 10 days, with the latest schedule leaving households with water for only one day followed by two days without supply.
“Previously, it was 36 hours with water and 36 hours without. Now it is one day with water and two days without,” he said in an interview here yesterday.
Loh said many families were worried about preparing reunion dinners and performing prayers as they were unable to store sufficient water.
While Benut experienced heavy rain recently, he said Machap had not seen rainfall for over a month.
Engineering manager Jerry Ang, 42, who works in Pasir Gudang but celebrating Chinese New Year in Benut, said he had to borrow a friend’s 4WD vehicle to make three trips from his house to the Benut bus terminal to collect water.
“One water tank costs about RM80. It is very troublesome, especially with Chinese New Year so near,” he said.
Factory manager Shahrizal Marsam, 53, said his family, including six children, had been experiencing water disruption for a week now.
“We save water and recycle where possible,” he said, adding that bottled water assistance had helped ease their burden.
Complaints of water shortage have come as far away from Kluang and Pontian, where about 100,000 residents are affected.
Johor works, transportation, infrastructure and communications committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said that the scheduled water supply is affecting some 31,081 accounts in the two districts.
He added that as of 4pm on Saturday, the Simpang Renggam water treatment plant (LRA) was operating at 50 million litres per day (MLD), or 78.13% of its full capacity of 64 MLD.
“Machap Dam channels water to the Simpang Renggam plant.
“However, with the current level at 13.94m, which is slightly below the minimum level, Ranhill SAJ has had to implement pumping operations to increase raw water capacity channelled to Sungai Ulu Benut through the environmental flow,” he added.
He said that Machap Dam was originally built as a flood mitigation structure and not designed as a primary raw water supply dam, requiring careful operational control to ensure balanced and continuous distribution.
Mohamad Fazli said water tankers as well as static tanks have been deployed to Kluang and Pontian.
Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd announced a new schedule for the scheduled water supply in Kluang and Pontian from today to Feb 28.
Under the revised schedule, supply will be distributed for 24 hours, followed by 48 hours without water, according to designated zones.
The company said the move was necessary due to declining levels at Machap Dam and limited treatment capacity at the Simpang Renggam plant, adding that tankers, static tanks and bottled water would continue to be deployed.
