ALOR STAR: The National Water Services Commission (Span) and concessionaires nationwide should ensure that water services will be truly improved following the decision to revise the water tariffs for Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.
Kedah Consumer Association (Cake) president Mohamad Yusrizal Yusoff said it is empirical for water services to be upgraded to justify the inevitable tariffs hike to enable concessionaires to maintain and replace dilapidated pipes.
"In November, Span organised a briefing session for consumer groups explaining that the tariffs has to be revised to enable the concessionaires to replace decades-old dilapidated pipes.
"For instance, in Kedah it would cost between RM1 billion to RM2 billion, not to mention the cost of upgrading existing water treatment plants. The costs might be higher in Kelantan and Selangor.
"We were informed that if the pipes are not replaced, consumers will continue to suffer from water supply disruptions and murky water taps," he said when contacted today.
Yusrizal added that while Cake is not in favour of any tariffs hike on utilities as it would further add burden on the people, it has to admit that the move was inevitable to fund the infrastructure upgrading works.
Thus, he stressed that the government and Span should ensure that water concessionaires in peninsular will make full use of the tariff revision to improve their services.
Earlier today, Deputy Energy Transition and Public Utilities Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir announced that the new water tariffs would help water concessionaires streamline their services.
Following the hike, domestic users in the peninsular and Labuan are expected to pay an average of 22 sen more for every cubic metre beginning Feb 1.
It was reported that Span has stressed that the despite the hike, it is still inadequate to cover the actual cost of providing water supply services.
Span, in a statement, said that based on its records in 2022, the actual cost of providing water supply services was RM1.75 per every cubic metre.