GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said there was no need for Penang to have a water treatment plant on its side for the Sungai Perak water transfer scheme as the state would be getting treated water from Perak.
He said this when interjecting Lim Guan Eng (DAP - Air Putih) who was debating on the Sungai Perak water transfer scheme at the state legislative assembly sitting here today.
Lim, when speaking on Perak's decision to sell treated water to Penang, said the initial discussion was for Perak to sell raw water rather than treated water.
He said, unfortunately, Perak did not agree to sell raw water but treated water, and that the water treatment plant (WTP) had been proposed to be sited in Perak.
"This is something out of the ordinary in the aspect of water security for a state using the water. The WTP should be sited in Penang. This is the first time the WTP is sited in a different state apart from the state of the ultimate consumer.
"Usually, the WTP will be sited in the state of the ultimate consumer as in the case of Melaka which receives raw water from Johor but the WTP is in Melaka. Similarly, Selangor receives raw water from Pahang but the WTP is in Selangor.
"In fact, our neighbour, Singapore, also receives raw water from Johor but the WTP is sited in Singapore.
"It couldn't be that Penang gets such a treatment," he said.
To this, Chow interjected and told Lim that he was omitting the real facts.
"What you (Lim) said is based on states receiving raw water, which warrants WTP in their respective states. We are different.
"In Penang's case, we are getting treated water from Perak. So what is the need for a WTP for us when we are getting treated water," he said.
Lim then said that the state should pursue raw water from Perak.
Lim also said that the people would be worried that the price of treated water sold by Perak would be high, expected to be RM1.50 per liter compared to the current water rate of 32 sen per litre.
"If the WTP is fully controlled by Perak, is there a guarantee that the water price will not be increased? We know that if the management in the WTP is not good and the water rate cannot be increased it may be closed or affect the quality of the water supplied.
"Therefore, it is important that the rights and interests of the people and the state of Penang are preserved. At least the WTP must be located in Penang and a water payment structure to Perak that is reasonable to all parties can be negotiated.
Speaking to newsmen later, Chow said Perak had on principle agreed to provide treated water to Penang after discussions on the project dragged on for so many years.
"This is a breakthrough. More discussions will be held before the matter is finalised.
Chow said Penang would only need to build its own treatment plant if Perak were to decide to provide raw water instead of treated water.
Several rounds of talks have been held between both states for the past 12 years with regard to the implementation of the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme (SPRWTS).
It was reported previously that the SPRWTS, part of the Penang Water Supply Initiative 2050 (PWSI 2050) to mitigate Penang's raw water risks until 2030, was proposed following an independent masterplan study commissioned by the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) in 2009.
According to PBAPP, Sungai Perak is the best option as its raw water resource is presently underutilised.
As such, the Penang government and PBAPP had sought to tap Sungai Perak as the second or alternative raw water resource for the state since 2011.
Recently, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the state would sell treated water to Penang after a meeting between the State Secretaries of both states.