Monitoring of water resources in Kedah satisfactory

ALOR STAR: The management of water resources by the Kedah State Water Resources Board (Lsank) is satisfactory based on the auditing exercise conducted between October and November last year.
According to the Auditor-General's Report 2016 Series 1, this was because the board had planned well to ensure the quantity of raw water was always sufficient and the water quality was under control except for some weaknesses which affected the efficiency and effectiveness of the monitoring activities.
The report which was tabled in Parliament today said the board, as well as the related departments and agencies, were recommended to implement three steps to ensure more efficient and effective monitoring.
"The first step is to increase storage capacity, implement joint water resource management, and a study must be conducted to determine the best and most economical way to solve the problem of water spillage in Sungai Muda. At the same time, effort must be made to gazette the Water Conservation Areas, the River Basin Areas, and the River Reserve Areas.
"The second step is to impose licencing of activities under the Enactment 7 (Kedah Water Resources Enactment 2008) and hasten the process of gazetting the Kedah Water Resources Regulations (Affluent Release Activities). At the same time, monitoring and enforcement activities must be conducted to control activities which do not comply with Enactment 7," the report said.
The report said the third step was to collect revenue and advise the State Authorities in the management and transport of inter-state water as required under Enactment 7 for the purpose of generating development and conservation of water resources.
According to the report, Kedah had six river basin areas with a total size of 8,804km², six dams, and 35 water treatment plants.
It also said that the management of business premises by the Kedah State Development Corporation was generally satisfactory with the board providing premises to local traders and attaining a rental collection of 92.8% compared to the target set for 2014 until last year.
"From 2014 until 2016, the corporation collected rentals amounting to RM7.09 million for 769 business premises it owned comprising business complexes, building, stalls, shophouses, food courts, warehouses, and kiosks. The total cost of maintenance for all the units during the same period was RM5.63 million," the report said.
However, it added that there were still several weaknesses in the management of the business premises including empty business lots which were not rented out, high arrears of rentals and contracts which had ended, not prepared and signed.
The report also said the corporation was urged to give due consideration to the three recommendations to ensure that the business premises were managed efficiently, effectively, and economically.
The first recommendation was that the vacant premises which were damaged and still economical should be repaired so that they could be rented out, thus increasing the corporation's income.
"The second recommendation is to increase stricter and immediate enforcement to reduce rental arrears, and the third recommendation was to ensure rental contracts were prepared for all business premises and immediately signed," the report said. — Bernama