Dr Xavier: States against water tariff hike need to submit mechanisms
kicking doors, banging the desk and so on, while those who do not, may show their anger in latent ways such as sulking, staying quiet or running away,” he said.
Dr Mohamed Fadzil said, however, that children’s addiction to gadgets could be overcome slowly through exposure to other activities such as drawing.
Meanwhile, Nurul Aida Abd Razak, 35, said her son Muhammad Fahmy Mohamed Fadzly, now nine years old, had been wearing spectacles since he was six.
“One of the reasons my son has to wear spectacles is because he likes to use the mobile phone in the dark at night to watch cartoons and play games.
“The lens power of my son’s glasses is 250 on both sides… and now I limit his use of gadgets. He can only use it during weekends for one to two hours a day,” she said, urging other parents to control their children’s use of digital gadgets to avoid such a predicament. — Bernama
KLANG: Several states which have no plans to increase the water tariff have been asked to submit their respective mechanisms to the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources, in an effort to provide clean water supply to the people.
Its minister Datuk Dr Xavier Jayakumar said this was because the cost of preparing and managing treated water was high and remedial actions had to be taken to address the water crisis in the states.
“Everybody needs to understand the water industry requires a huge budget so we can make sure the people receive supply of clean water 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
“Once we have the budget then we can provide the infrastructure to manage water operations besides addressing the shortage of water supply, so the states with no plans to increase their water tariff need to show that they have workable mechanisms and present them to the ministry,” he told reporters here after launching the Restoration, Reclamation and Rehabilitation through tree planting programme at the Botanical Garden here yesterday.
He said this when asked to comment on Negeri Sembilan government’s stance, that it would not increase its water tariff.
Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun announced the decision which he said was in line with Pakatan Harapan government’s manifesto in the 14th General Election (GE14), that there would be no increase in water tariff for five years.
Dr Xavier said several states had agreed with the ministry’s proposal to increase the tariff and the matter would be brought to the Cabinet for approval.
“If we don’t start now (raising the water tariff), we will face water problems in the next five years,” he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the tree planting programme, he said the ministry had targeted 100 million trees to be planted nationwide in five years, to show Malaysia’s commitment in conserving natural resources and the environment.
“This programme was created in conjunction with the International Day of Forests and we have identified an area of 4,750 hectares to be rehabilitated.
“Through the tree planting exercise, we will concentrate on the planting of iconic jungle trees including Merbau (Intsia palembanica),” he said. — Bernama