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  • 2 years ago

An additional RM110mil may be needed to resolve water woes in Langkawi, the Dewan Rakyat heard.

During Question Time on Monday (July 15), Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said this is because of leaks in underwater pipes supplying treated water to the island, and the Federal Government has asked the Kedah state government to hasten repairs.

Akmal added that the ministry is seeking to secure extra allocations through loans from Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd.

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Transcript
00:00For your information, there are two main sources of water supply for Langkawi Island.
00:07The first one is LRE Sungai Baru Perlis, which supplies 54.55 million litres per day.
00:17The second one is four LREs in Langkawi Island, which supplies 32.74 million litres per day.
00:27These are LRE Padang Saga 2, LRE Padang Saga 3, LRE Bukit Kemboja, and LRE Pulau Tuba.
00:36The main issue of water supply in Langkawi is caused by a 7-kilometre-wide pipe leak
00:45from a 35-kilometre-wide pipe that supplies water from LRE Sungai Baru to the Langkawi dam.
00:55The Indonesian government has also provided a loan of RM50 million
01:00for a project to repair a seabed pipe from a large land to Langkawi Island.
01:05This project must be carried out immediately by the Kedah state government
01:10through Aedarul Aman or SADA.
01:13Currently, it is in the level of the Project Value Assessment Lab,
01:20which was held on June 24, 2024, and is expected to start in November 2024.
01:30For a simple settlement, the project to increase the supply of fresh water
01:37by 20 million litres per day from a bundled storage at Maksirat Keempangan Malut
01:43has been carried out in May 2024.
01:47This project received a grant from an organisation worth RM8 million.
01:51Subsequently, SPAN also asked SADA to present a mitigation plan
01:57to deal with this water supply issue, especially in the short term,
02:01including by sending a tank and static tank lorry
02:06to reduce water supply disruption to the affected users,
02:10as well as to continue the work of repairing the leak of the seabed pipe that has been affected.
02:17Meanwhile, the long-term solution is as follows.
02:21Firstly, the LRA Padang Saga Phase 4 construction project
02:26with a capacity of 20 million litres per day,
02:29the LRA Padang Saga Phase 5 construction project
02:32with a capacity of 30 million litres per day,
02:35and thirdly, the construction of an underground dam
02:39at Maksirat Keempangan Malut
02:42with an additional capacity of 42.8 million cubic metres of water supply
02:48which is expected to start in May 2025.
02:52In addition, a total of 16.3 million ringgit has been allocated under Article 4 of the 12th RMK
02:59under the NRW National Approach 1 programme.
03:03The NRW National Approach 1 project in Pulau Langkawi is expected to reduce
03:08the water loss by 10 million litres per day
03:12by August 2024.
03:15Thank you, Madam Speaker.
03:17Sungai Petani
03:18Thank you, Madam Speaker.
03:20Thank you, Honourable Minister.
03:22Several factors contributing to the water supply problem in Pulau Langkawi
03:27are caused by inequality between the level of development in the area
03:33and the high level of non-revenue water with the NRW permit
03:38and also the levels of leakage along the 7-kilometre pipe
03:43and approximately 23 leakage points.
03:46I would like to congratulate you on the steps taken by the Ministry
03:50in a short, simple and long period of time.
03:53But what are the contingency measures taken by the Ministry
03:59in the high season?
04:05And how can Petra help improve the report of the Head of State Audit
04:13which states that the percentage of NRW in Kedah is very high,
04:18up to 51.5%.
04:21And at the same time, I would like to urge the Ministry and the Government
04:26to work together to improve the water reserve in Kedah
04:32which is 0% of the water reserve in Kedah.
04:36So, I would like to ask for clarification from the Ministry.
04:39Thank you.
04:40Thank you, Honourable Sungai Petani.
04:44For questions related to Pulau Langkawi,
04:48we estimate that there will be five major events in the next five months.
04:59Therefore, when we talk about repairing the seabed pipe
05:05which has experienced a leak,
05:07in fact, the leak at this time is getting worse
05:10compared to the report from 2-3 years ago.
05:14Therefore, the decision that we ask from the state
05:20is to repair the seabed pipe
05:24where we can repair the seabed pipe first
05:26under the decision that has been approved,
05:28which is RM50 million.
05:30However, the budget or the savings made
05:36in fact, the leak requires an additional cost of around RM110 million.
05:42Therefore, the government will consider this matter
05:47to help in terms of lending under the PAAB.
05:52Secondly, if you allow me,
05:57regarding the water reserve in Kedah,
06:00this matter should be taken seriously
06:02because the leak has occurred by the head of the state audit.
06:07Therefore, as long as the five water treatment projects
06:11that we have allocated for the four projects
06:16need to be prepared,
06:18because as long as it is not ready,
06:20the water reserve is actually not empty
06:22but now it is negative in Kedah.
06:24Therefore, our request,
06:27although the state has asked to implement the project in 2021,
06:32the ministry will also try to monitor
06:37even though the monitoring is carried out under the state government.
06:41Thank you, Madam Speaker.
06:42Mr. Langkawi.
06:43I would like to thank the government
06:47for helping the water problem in Langkawi.
06:52And I believe that the ministry also realizes that
06:56the seabed pipe has been around for 27 years
07:03and for 37 kilometers from Perlis to Langkawi,
07:09there has always been a leak,
07:11not just between those 7 kilometers.
07:14And I am informed that
07:16if you want to repair this submarine cable,
07:19you have to wait,
07:21you have to wait for the right current,
07:23the right wave,
07:25the right seabed tranquility
07:27before they come down.
07:28And it can only be done twice in a month.
07:32Mr. Langkawi, please summarize your question.
07:34Mr. Minister,
07:36I want to ask,
07:38does the government not think to continue to change?
07:42It has been 27 years,
07:45of course, there is a leak here and there.
07:48A 27-year-old human being
07:50is sick here and there.
07:52Does the government want to help the seabed
07:56to continue to change this submarine cable?
07:59Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
08:01Mr. Speaker,
08:02as I have explained before,
08:05the leak is actually at the national level,
08:09in terms of the cost.
08:12When it comes to the leak,
08:16the observations made by the operators
08:19and those involved there,
08:22the source of the leak is from Pukat Tunda.
08:27Therefore, the leak
08:29is more likely to cause damage
08:32due to disturbances.
08:36Because the 7 km
08:39is a line in the middle.
08:43Therefore,
08:45in terms of how we can
08:47fix the long term,
08:50to repair the 50 million ringgit
08:53that I mentioned earlier,
08:55it is not enough.
08:56Therefore,
08:57as a ministry,
08:59we are also looking for a way
09:01to pass on the additional demand
09:04through loans,
09:05through PAB.
09:07However, we need to ask
09:10the government
09:12to take this matter seriously.
09:14Because,
09:15even though,
09:16in terms of the seabed as a whole,
09:20the users or owners of water accounts
09:23are more in Kedah than in Langkawi.
09:26However, Langkawi is an island
09:28that we have to take care of,
09:30we have to raise its status.
09:32Therefore,
09:33I also ask for cooperation
09:34from the people of Langkawi
09:36to voice to the government
09:39to give an image that
09:41the responsibility of water
09:43in this country
09:44needs to be the priority
09:46for the continuation of Langkawi
09:48as a tourist destination.
09:50Thank you, Madam Vice President.
09:53Thank you.
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