Cease and Desist Politicizing Water..

This prolonged and protracted war between the PKR-led Selangor government and the Federal government over the construction of the Sungai Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant (Langat 2) is beginning to wear me thin, if it hasn't already.
Frankly, I'm getting so tired of it.

The Selangor government has rejected the project as being too costly. It has proposed a project using  membrane technology instead because it is cheaper. MB Khalid Ibrahim also said his government  wants to carry out its water supply restructuring plan. It also has  issues with Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas),since forever.

And of course, Langat 2 is a federal project.

The Langat 2 mitigation project was among several programmes planned before the 2008 general election to cope with the high demand for treated water due to the mushrooming of factories and business parks in Selangor and to prevent a recurrence of the 1997-98 water crisis.

Under the Langat 2 water transfer project between Selangor and Pahang, 1,890 million litres of raw water will be pumped daily from Sungai Semantan in Pahang to the Hulu Langat water treatment plant in Selangor. It has been reported that Selangor only has enough water to meet demand until 2014 and by 2017 the situation will worsen if measures are not taken to increase supply.

The Selangor government claims that Langat 2 project will burden the rakyat while the Federal Government says that the Selangor government's plan would only serve as a short-term solution and would not be practical in the long run.
The Federal Government insists that Langat 2 project is more economical and will avert a water crisis in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

I don't for a minute believe that the Selangor has the interest of the rakyat at heart in this case. It's just politics.As I have said, langat 2 is a federal project.


At this point, the Selangor government can present whatever argument against Langat 2 , I don't quite care. Go sue Syabas. Go sue the federal government if you think they all are cheating the rakyat. BUT DON'T STAND IN THE WAY OF a water treatment plant that can benefit the rakyat.

You know the rakyat may even sue the Selangor government for being in the way.. or  for just being an ass..

The fact is Selangor's population has grown and is growing. There a lot more industries and factories.

You want to be at war with the federal government, go ahead -- that's what politics is all about, after all.

But, I'll be damned if you politicize water.

I am a registered voter in Selangor. I have a huge extended family in Selangor -- around Banting and Kuala Selangor.

We discuss politics a lot.

In the last elections, my vote counted. Oh yeah it did.

And this year, my vote will definitely count.

Here's my column in the NST.

WHAT a start to the new year for some 500,000 people in Gombak and Kuala Lumpur who have been without water supply for a few days.

The disruption was caused by two faulty pumps. The good news, according to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), is that the pumps have already been "successfully repaired".
The not-so-good news is that water supply will only be fully restored within a week.

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