GEORGE TOWN: Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) will implement the new water tariff adjustments that have been gazetted for the non-domestic and special categories from Jan 1 after the Ministry of Environment and Water gazetted the water tariff review on Aug 1.
PBAPP chief executive officer K. Pathmanathan said, however, this tariff adjustment will not involve domestic consumers (except for domestic bulk meters) in the state and the domestic water tariff rate in Penang is still the lowest in Malaysia.
“Apart from non-domestic tariffs, tariff adjustments also involve special categories such as houses of worship/welfare, government premises, higher education institutions and shipping.
“Therefore, users in this category are expected to experience changes in their monthly water bills depending on their respective monthly water usage,” he said in a statement Tuesday (Nov 29).
He said the adjustment was based on the Tariff Setting Mechanism (TSM) developed by the National Water Service Commission (SPAN), which is a systematic, fair and transparent tariff setting mechanism to ensure the national water service industry achieves long-term sustainability.
Pathmanathan said the additional funds obtained will be reinvested to fund capital expenditure (CAPEX) especially for the PBAPP Raw Water Contingency Plan 2030 (RWCP 2030) project.
He said that as the only water supply operator for Penang, this tariff adjustment is very important for PBAPP so that the upgrading of the water supply infrastructure can be implemented to meet the demand for water supply of users in a sustainable manner.
“RWCP 2030 has been planned in the period from 2022 to 2025 involving several projects including Phase 2 of the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Sedimentation Tank Upgrade Project, Package 12A of the Sungai Dua WTP, the distribution pipe from the Sungai Dua WTP to Butterworth and the distribution pipe from Macallum to Bukit Dumbar,” he said.
He said PBAPP advises users to use water resources wisely and to install water saving devices (WSD) in their respective premises to reduce water consumption and ensure sustainability.
According to him, in order to reduce water consumption, businesses and organisations are encouraged to actively participate in the Aqua Save Certification programme through the Penang Green Council’s website at www.pgc.com.my. – Bernama