We don’t have water to spare, says Perak MB
Perak’s inability to supply raw water to Penang is due to insufficient supply and not politics, says Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.
He stressed this amid talk that Perak would now supply water to Pakatan Harapan-led Penang following the formation of Perak’s state unity government between his coalition Barisan Nasional and Pakatan.
Before GE15, Pakatan was the Opposition in the state.
Saarani, who is also state Barisan chairman, said despite the two coalitions collaborating in Perak, the state remained unable to supply water to its northern neighbour.
“The issue is not about which party is governing a state, but the capacity of raw water from rivers.
“It has nothing to do with Barisan or Pakatan, what matters is if there is enough raw water in the state for internal use.
“If we have surplus raw water, then we’ll have no problem supplying it outside of Perak,” he told a press conference after visiting a centralised labour quarters pilot project site here yesterday.
Saarani added that Perak’s move towards becoming an industrial state would require more water.
“We have plans to set up factories involved in rubber-based products, and these companies require more water.
“We are aware of water shortages in companies located in Kamunting, therefore we do not want a problem where we supply water to others and we suffer a shortage,” he said.
In March, the Perak government decided that water sourced from Sungai Perak would be for the state’s use only.
The Mentri Besar had said then that Perak could not fulfil the request made by the Penang government to supply it with raw water from Sungai Perak.
“While I sympathise with the problems faced by Penang, the reasons for rejecting the request are valid,” he said.
He quoted data from the Housing and Population Census showing that Perak had 2.5 million people in 2020 and the figure was projected to increase to three million by 2050.
“We need to make sure that the state has sufficient water (for our own use),” he added.