Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong said the state has no time to spare for "cheap politicking by miscreants", after Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar paid a visit to victims of a recent water disruption.

Referring to Noh’s actions, she said the Air Selangor, Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas), and the Department of Environment (DOE) have been on top of the issue since the crisis began on Sept 22.

The minister yesterday said that Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali was too busy with politics to solve the state’s water supply woes.

Wong said the agencies have been conducting their investigations 24 hours a day to identify the source of the pollution that led to the shutdown of the Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (WTP).

“The media had asked for our comments on YB Noh Omar's accusations today during his media stunt this morning in Semenyih.

“The state government does not waste time on such cheap politicking by miscreants and is focused on two matters – full restoration of water to affected areas and identification and prosecution of the culprits involved.

“Air Selangor, Luas and DOE have been on top of this issue from the minute it unfolded and got the Semenyih treatment plant operating in full capacity since Saturday afternoon. All credit goes to these agencies,” she said in a statement last night.

Wong holds the state’s tourism, environment, green technology and consumer affairs portfolio.

Meanwhile, Damansara state assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin told Noh today not to politicise water disruptions currently plaguing the state.

She said she was appalled by Noh, whom she said was more interested to score political points over Azmin.

Yeo reminded Noh that monitoring river quality was the responsibility of both the DOE - a federal agency - and Luas, which is a state agency.

Pointing out how both governments should take collective responsibility in controlling river pollution, Yeo said the current focus was to work together to identify the source of the pollution to ensure that it doesn’t recur.

“After that, both governments need to ensure that the main culprit is charged at court and gets the heaviest punishment possible as provided for by the relevant laws,” she said in a statement today.

According to Wong (photo), polluting water sources is an offence under Section 25 of the Environment Quality Act 1974. The penalty is a RM100,000 fine or five years’ imprisonment, or both, upon conviction.

“In addition, if it is a business or a premise which was found to be the source, the local council will revoke all licenses and stop all operations.

“No appeals will be considered as this incident had caused hardship to consumers in Selangor,” she said, adding that Air Selangor, DOE, and Luas would continue their investigations until the culprit is brought to justice.

Thus far, she said the Semenyih WTP had temporarily ceased operations three times in 48 hours, until it resumed operations at 2.30pm last Saturday and there has been no pollution detected in the 50 hours since.

Supply restored to most affected areas

As of yesterday evening, Wong said, water supply has been restored to most affected areas, and full restoration is slated for tomorrow.

“Relief water supply will continue to be sent by tankers to the balance affected areas until full restoration by Sept 28, 2016,” she said.

On the shutdown of the Semenyih water treatment plant (WTP) due to the Semenyih river pollution, Yeo said it was not the only factor for the prolonged water disruptions.

“If the Syabas water distribution network had sufficient water reserve, the Semenyih WTP shutdown would not have disrupted the water supply.

“Nevertheless, our water reserve margin is only at 1 percent. The reason for this low reserve margin is many years of underinvestment in water infrastructure under the private concessionaires,” she said.

Meanwhile, Yeo said unlike private concessionaires, the Selangor government has invested heavily in water infrastructure since taking over Syabas and Puncak Niaga at the end of last year.

She said the second and third mitigation projects as well as the upgrade of the Langat WTP and the construction of Semenyih 2 WTP were only some of the projects that the state government had undertaken.

“With the on-going projects listed above, Selangor will achieve a comfortable water supply position in 2018,” she said.

However, Yeo admitted that the state government needs to invest in automated river quality monitoring and control system as well as run an effective water conservation programme to further ensure water security.

“All in all, there is still so much that needs to be done to ensure water security for the people of Selangor.

“If Noh Omar doesn’t have constructive suggestions, perhaps the best thing he can do is to let the Selangor state government do its work in peace,” she added.