GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government and Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) are working with the federal government in four major water supply projects.
PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said state Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari recently led a state government and PBAPP delegation to attend a meeting chaired by Energy Transition and Water Transformation (Petra) Water Supply Division (WSD) director Sulaiman Kamisan in Putrajaya.
He said four projects were discussed, which included the 440-mega litre per day (MLD) Lahar Yooi pump house to enable faster refilling of the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD), the 440-MLD dual purpose pipeline (from EMD to Sungai Dua canal), the Sungai Kerian off-river storage scheme (ORSS) and the Sungai Muda ORSS.
"For all these projects, we need to submit the Notice of Change for approval from the federal government as we are expanding their scope.
"The four federal projects are additional projects that should be implemented in tandem with Penang's RM1.184 billion Water Contingency Plan 2030 (WCP 2030) and the RM4.5 billion Perak-Penang Water Project," he said today.
Pathmanathan said PBAPP would continue to implement the remaining six of eight projects under WCP 2030 and support the federal government's implementation of the Perak-Penang Water Project by 2030.
"When implemented, these four additional federal projects will help to ensure continuous
water supply in Penang on a 24/7/365 basis and relieve Penang's water-stress status in this age of climate change," he added.
The Lahar Yooi pump house represented Phase 2C of the Mengkuang Dam Expansion project (MDEP).
The pump house supported PBAPP's plan to convert the EMD from a "strategic drought reserve" to a "daily dam" with the completion of the new 114-MLD Mengkuang dam water treatment plant next year.
Meanwhile, the Penang government and PBAPP were also seeking federal assistance to lay a new 440-MLD dual-purpose pipeline from the EMD to Sungai Dua canal.
This pipeline is needed to support the operations of the proposed Lahar Yooi pump house.
The two ORSS projects are essentially "mini-dam" projects proposed for development
at or near the riverbanks of Sungai Muda in Seberang Prai Utara (SPU) and Sungai
Kerian in Seberang Prai Selatan (SPS).