KOTA BARU: The water tariff adjustment which will come into force on February 1 can help the development, upgrading, overhaul and maintenance of water supply infrastructure and improve clean water services in Kelantan.
State Works, Infrastructure, Water and Rural Development Committee chairman, Datuk Dr Izani Husin said it will also have a direct impact on the quality of service to users, including dealing with supply disruptions and complaints related to water supply problems.
"The tariff adjustment review for water services in Kelantan was last made in 2013.
"During that 11-year period, the operational costs for processing and delivering clean water to consumers, including the cost of repairs, chemicals, wages, electricity and lease for the project, have increased manifold," he told Bernama today.
Commenting further, Dr Izani who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd (AKSB) said during that period, the company involved had to absorb all those costs in daily operations to the point where it was no longer able to cover those costs without the implementation of adjustments new tariff.
"AKSB also has to cover additional electricity costs which are Imbalanced Cost Relief (ICPT) from 2022," he said.
The total number of user accounts in Kelantan is 276,171 of which 238,235 are domestic accounts while the rest are commercial accounts.
Previously, former AKSB general manager Dr Nazmi Ghazali Azmi said that based on the 2021-2030 Master Plan, RM5.03 billion was needed to solve the water supply problem in Kelantan.
He said the amount included a non-revenue water (NRW) management programme amounting to RM1.7 billion, Riverside Water Reservoir (TAPS) development costing RM2.1 billion, construction of a mini Water Treatment Plant (WTP) (RM120 million), construction of a new WTP (RM740 million), upgrade of existing WTP (RM300 million) and asset management (RM70 million). -- BERNAMA
