Penang awaits federal govt nod for water conservation surcharge

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Water Supply Corporation said today it was still waiting for federal government approval on the proposed water conservation surcharge for domestic consumption exceeding 35,000 litres per month in the state.
PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said the company sent an application for revision of the WCS from 48 sen per 1,000 litres to RM1 per 1,000 litres to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) on April 28 and resent the application five times over the last eight months.
"SPAN had asked PBAPP to resend the application five times," he said in a statement, adding that the application was resent on June 20 and 23, Sept 8, Oct 25 and Nov 20.
He said the implementation of the surcharge was subject to the approval of the federal government which was responsible for approving water tariffs and water service charges in accordance with the SPAN Act 2006 (Act 654) and Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655).
"Without federal government approval, PBAPP cannot enforce the RM1 WCS legally," he said.
Jaseni said the revised WCS proposal would only affect 23% of domestic consumers who used more than 35,000 litres of water per month.
"These domestic consumers have the option of avoiding the WCS by using less than 35,000 litres per month," he explained.
He said that by proposing a higher rate of WCS, PBAPP strived to reduce domestic water consumption which accounted for 59.4% of the total water consumption in Penang in 2016.
"PBAPP hopes that SPAN and the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water will support the water conservation and water demand management in Penang, by giving priority to the RM1 WCS recommendation," he said. — Bernama