Kedah bund collapses, 75,000 left without water supply
Water supplies were disrupted when two water treatment plants had to be closed after an irrigation canal bund burst.
PETALING JAYA: An irrigation canal bund collapsed, leading to water supply disruptions for more than 75,000 households and other premises in Kota Setar and Pokok Sena districts.
The state water company Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (Sada) said the water treatment plants at Pokok Sena and Bukit Pinang were shut down to enable emergency repair works, Bernama reported.
A total of 60,000 customers in Kota Setar were affected from 4.15pm and about 15,000 customers in Pokok Sena district from 4.45pm.
Among the affected areas are Pekan Langgar, Jalan Langgar to Alor Setar city, Kepala Batas town, Jalan Gunung, Jalan Sungai Baru and Jalan Pantai Johor towards Simpang Empat.
Other affected areas are Istana Anak Bukit, the menteri besar’s official residence, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar prison, Hospital Lama Alor Setar, the Federal Government building and Wisma Darul Aman.
Muda agricultural development authority chairman Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman said the bund collapsed after heavy rain in the area yesterday which caused the river to flow uncontrollably. There was also a rise in the water level from the Sungai Padang Terap catchment area.
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Kedah MB blames PH for delay in water supply projects
PETALING JAYA: An irrigation canal bund collapsed, leading to water supply disruptions for more than 75,000 households and other premises in Kota Setar and Pokok Sena districts.
The state water company Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (Sada) said the water treatment plants at Pokok Sena and Bukit Pinang were shut down to enable emergency repair works, Bernama reported.
A total of 60,000 customers in Kota Setar were affected from 4.15pm and about 15,000 customers in Pokok Sena district from 4.45pm.
Among the affected areas are Pekan Langgar, Jalan Langgar to Alor Setar city, Kepala Batas town, Jalan Gunung, Jalan Sungai Baru and Jalan Pantai Johor towards Simpang Empat.
Other affected areas are Istana Anak Bukit, the menteri besar’s official residence, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar prison, Hospital Lama Alor Setar, the Federal Government building and Wisma Darul Aman.
Muda agricultural development authority chairman Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman said the bund collapsed after heavy rain in the area yesterday which caused the river to flow uncontrollably. There was also a rise in the water level from the Sungai Padang Terap catchment area.
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Kedah MB blames PH for delay in water supply projects
Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Md Nor said water supply disruptions would end after five projects were completed. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: The previous Kedah state government led by Pakatan Harapan was blamed today for delaying plans to improve water treatment plants in the state.
Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Md Nor said efforts to overcome water supply problems in the state could have been implemented earlier and probably would not have lasted until now.
He apologised for the frequent water supply disruptions in certain areas but said efforts to overcome these problems were being carried out.
“Efforts to overcome the problem were reactivated only after a change in the leadership of the state government in May 2020,” he said.
The Pakatan Harapan state government led by Mukhriz Mahathir fell after it lost its majority in the state assembly, and a new government was formed by Perikatan Nasional, with Sanusi as its head.
He said the projects to upgrade five water treatment plants in Kubang Pasu, Bandar Baharu, Baling, Pendang and Kuala Muda were implemented in the middle of last year.
He said all five projects, costing a total of RM931 million, are expected to be completed in the next three years.
Once these five projects are completed, there will be no more water supply disruptions in the state, he said.
Sanusi said the state government had also drawn up plans for cutting its losses from non-revenue water, including replacing water main pipes at a cost of almost RM1 billion.
He added the state water company Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd had also implemented various efforts, including contingency plans, to tackle water supply problems during the recent Aidilfitri celebration.
PETALING JAYA: The previous Kedah state government led by Pakatan Harapan was blamed today for delaying plans to improve water treatment plants in the state.
Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Md Nor said efforts to overcome water supply problems in the state could have been implemented earlier and probably would not have lasted until now.
He apologised for the frequent water supply disruptions in certain areas but said efforts to overcome these problems were being carried out.
“Efforts to overcome the problem were reactivated only after a change in the leadership of the state government in May 2020,” he said.
The Pakatan Harapan state government led by Mukhriz Mahathir fell after it lost its majority in the state assembly, and a new government was formed by Perikatan Nasional, with Sanusi as its head.
He said the projects to upgrade five water treatment plants in Kubang Pasu, Bandar Baharu, Baling, Pendang and Kuala Muda were implemented in the middle of last year.
He said all five projects, costing a total of RM931 million, are expected to be completed in the next three years.
Once these five projects are completed, there will be no more water supply disruptions in the state, he said.
Sanusi said the state government had also drawn up plans for cutting its losses from non-revenue water, including replacing water main pipes at a cost of almost RM1 billion.
He added the state water company Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd had also implemented various efforts, including contingency plans, to tackle water supply problems during the recent Aidilfitri celebration.
The water supply problems in Kedah did not happen overnight.
ReplyDeleteIt would be years for such problems to manifest due to neglect and non maintenance.
Malaysia suffers from a disease of chronic zero long term vision on the part of state governments. They are seemingly there to do fire fighting (except Penang)
For the life of me, I cannot imagine a state government (Kelantan) promising its people that the state's water woes will be solved only in 30 and 40 years' time. And the rakyat seems to accept this ridiculous "promise". What idiocy!!!
So, for Sanusi to blame PH, is just the usual convenient political crap. The problems were building up much,much earlier.
That is the problem when politicians go out to milk their positions for their own benefit instead of thinking ways to improve the rakyat standard of living
This is clearly arising from issues in the water supply system rather than lack of Raw Water.
ReplyDeleteSanusi trying to cut off or restrict Penang's raw water supply is clearly barking up the wrong tree.