GEORGE TOWN: Delivering continuous water supply with no rationing and at reasonable tariffs has been the most important achievement for Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) in the last 20 years, according to its chairman, Chow Kon Yeow.
Chow, who is also Penang Chief Minister, said ever since its corporatisation in 1999, PBAPP had consistently reinvested its profits to continuously upgrade its water supply services and in the period between 2008 and 2018, injected RM682.6 million for 335 water supply projects in the state.
“Today, these projects are sustaining 100% urban and 99.8% rural water supply coverage, for the benefit of 1.77 million people who live here (in Penang) and the thousands of businesses that operate (in the state),” he said in a statement today.
His statement coincided with PBAPP’s 20th anniversary and a Long Service Awards celebration of the company.
He said PBAPP, which became a subsidiary of PBA Holdings Bhd (PBAHB) which was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2002, had earned numerous awards, while its parent company consistently paid yearly dividends to its shareholders.
PBAPP/PBAHB CEO, Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said workforce efficiency and no outsourcing of key water supply engineering operations were key factors that had sustained good water supply services in Penang over the last two decades.
He said PBAPP started by employing 999 personnel to serve 338,523 registered consumers in 1999 with the figures growing to 1,347 (personnel) and 616,082 (consumers) in 2018, reflecting the ratio of one personnel to 339 consumers in the beginning to one personnel to 448 personnel last year.
“This ratio reflects an improved workforce efficiency and it is one of the key indicators of PBAPP’s overall efficiency as a water supply operator,” he said.
Instead of outsourcing its key supply operations, he said PBAPP had trained its personnel to carry out their responsibilities competently and to prioritise continuous good water supply in Penang above anything else.
“Our daily top priority is continuous supply of potable water with no rationing. As such, we do not outsource any of our water supply engineering operations that may compromise this priority,” he added. - Bernama
