KUALA LUMPUR: The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) will conduct a thorough study and discussions on the existing water tariff for the domestic category (residential premises).
Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said this had to be done before any decision could be made to raise the domestic category's water tariff.
"We need to do a thorough study as we address this, just like what we have done with electricity tariff adjustment via the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) mechanism, where the transition is towards targeted subsidy.
"We must look at what would be the best way and it has to be affordable.
"We cannot talk about reducing the non-revenue water (NRW) and make it more economical without talking about that part (raising the water tariff," he told reporters after presenting Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) with reimbursement for its achievement under the National NRW Reduction Programme Approach 2 for 2021.
Also present were his deputy Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii, secretary-general Datuk Rosli Isa, deputy secretary-general (water and sewerage) Dr Ching Too Kim, the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chief executive officer, Datuk Ahmad Faizal Abdul Rahman and Air Selangor acting chief executive officer Abas Abdullah.
Nik Nazmi said just like what Air Selangor did with the free water policy, where everyone could enjoy free water, it had now shifted to only the B40 group.
"Those who can afford to pay should do so. That's the principle."
Nik Nazmi said he got requests from several states, asking for the water tariff to be revised.
"(But) I told them that it needed a thorough study to see how it could be done.
"We also have to look at SPAN's perspective too, before we can arrive at a decision."
Nik Nazmi also said some states recorded high NRW rates of up to 60 per cent. He, however, did not disclose the states.
"States with low NRW rate are Penang, Johor and Selangor, between 24 and 25 per cent," he said, adding that the NRW rate in developed countries usually below 15 per cent.
On the reimbursement to Air Selangor, Nik Nazmi said the water utility company today received RM110.9 million, which is 50 per cent of its annual expenditure on the NRW programme.
"Air Selangor had reduced the NRW rate in 2021 by 0.5 per cent to 28 per cent, in line with SPAN's target.
"Air Selangor has also succeeded in meeting the target rate of reducing the NRW for consecutive years in 2019, 2020 and 2021 under this programme.
"In total, Air Selangor was eligible for reimbursement amounting to RM362.4 million under the programme during the period."
The National NRW Reduction Programme Approach 2 was done via matching grants for water operators who met the set annual NRW rate reduction target.
It involves states with NRW rates of less than 40 per cent namely Melaka, Penang, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Terengganu and Selangor.
Under this scheme, the government will reimburse 50 per cent of the annual expenditure spent on the completed NRW programme by water operators.
A total of RM1.371 billion has been allotted by the government under the programme, spearheaded by SPAN.
Nik Nazmi added SPAN reported that the country's average NRW rate last year stood at 37.2 per cent, which saw 7.084 million litres wasted daily, with a total loss estimated at RM2 billion per year .
