5 key areas to enhance, manage water resources
THE National Water Resources Council (MSAN) has identified five key areas to enhance the management and development of the country’s water resources, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid, who chaired the 12th MSAN meeting in Parliament yesterday, said the meeting touched on state governments expediting the acquisition of land for projects under the Rural Water Supply Programme.
He said the programme was aimed at locating more water resources in collaboration with state water authorities.
The meeting was attended by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Othman Aziz, as well as menteris besar and chief ministers or their representatives.
Zahid said state governments must protect natural or manmade water-catchment areas.
He said these included uncontrolled development and agriculture activities.
“In addition to the state governments’ efforts to manage water, the Federal Government will offer alternative water resources.
“Another way is to encourage state water dam operators to follow the Malaysia Dam Safety Management Guidelines to ensure a systematic safety procedure.
“The government will research methods to store unprocessed water from rivers.
“This includes the development of the Off-River Storage system.”
Zahid, who is also home minister, said the government was keeping records of all lakes in the country for the purpose of turning them into water resources.