SHAH ALAM, 2 Aug: At the moment, the State Government will not implement scheduled water rationing to balance the water supply in some areas despite the extreme hot weather, said Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
He also denied allegations that the water level at many dams in the state are below the minimum level and is worrying.
He said that the state government has several options to ensure sufficient water supply until November; the monsoon season.
“One of the ways is to use existing ponds. Like today and two days ago, we conducted cloud seeding and as a result we received rain that increased the water levels at dams and the valleys.
“So we do not want to ration because if this water preservation programme can be carried out, and Insya-Allah can be continued until November this issue (water supply) is not a problem,” he said, quoted from a Bernama report.
Earlier, he and the Executive Council were at the signing ceremony for the Heads of Agreement on the memorandum of understanding between the Federal Government and the Selangor Government on the restructuring of the water supply industry in Selangor.
Elaborating, Khalid said that State Executive Councillor Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi has been put responsible to inform on water issues, including the water levels and how to overcome the issue of water supply.
“The critical level of water (at dams) is 30%. For the people’s knowledge, Dr Yunus will personally inform on the state of water and how we will overcome this matter every two days,” he said.
It was recently reported that the water level at two dams in Selangor are still below the minimum level of 55 percent despite the water rationing plan being terminated in April.
According to the statistics at the Selangor Water Management Authority’s (LUAS) website www.iwrims.luas.gov.my on July 31, the water levels at two dams that are below minimum levels are Sungai Selangor (33.46%) and Sungai Tinggi (47.39%).
Last February, the Selangor State Government implemented scheduled water rationing throughout the state to balance the water supply in some areas.
NS
