The Malaysian Insight

MURKY water from the taps is a common sight and a longstanding issue spanning decades in the PAS-led state of Kelantan.

This has forced some Kelantan folk to install electric pumps, tubes or bore wells.

Kelantan people generally rely on underground water for consumption.

Rantau Panjang resident Hasliza Mohd, 26, recounted how her family had to fork out thousands of ringgit to install an electric pump in her home.

She said prior to installing their own electric pump, the family had to rely on the pump provided by Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd.

“It is very difficult because the water is not clean and there will be at least four disruptions a month. They do give us notice but sometimes the time in the notice is wrong and the water cuts could last longer than the time stated,” Hasliza, an entrepreneur, told The Malaysian Insight.

“We have to spend a lot of money to buy drinking water. Those who can afford it can buy drinking water but what about those who cannot? Even when the water is brown, you will just have to make do with it.”

She said there were many senior citizens living on their own and they lack water.

“There are also health issues. There are people who have suffered stomachaches even after boiling the water for drinking,” she said.

This prompted her family to install an electric pump along with a tower tank, which cost around RM7,000.

Hasliza said many residents in the state had grown used to the problem.

Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) president S. Piarapakaran said there were cases where the water meter continued to run even when water was not flowing.

“There are places in Kelantan where water doesn’t come out of the pipes. It is air that flows but they still have to pay as the meter will run,” he said.

He said Kelantan’s water problem could have been solved had the state agreed to restructure the water industry more than a decade ago.

“Almost 90% of the population would have access to clean water by now,” he said

Piarapakaran blamed the state government for its refusal to restructure the water system.

“In five to 10 years, Kelantanese would have seen a huge difference. If they had restructured in 2010, by now many of these problems would have been solved,” he said.

Negotiations between the state and federal governments to restructure the Kelantan water industry began in 2008 and lasted for about eight years before they were finalised in 2016.

Through the restructuring, water supply management and the water industry would be fully under the purview of the state government while the federal government would act as the regulator as per the Water Service Industry Act 2006.

Piarapakaran said so much progress in terms of water services would have been achieved in the 13 years and people would not have to pump groundwater for use.

“It costs a lot to pump groundwater,” he said, adding that a 30m tube well could cost RM1,400.

“It is much cheaper to buy treated water from AKSB (Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd) – if there is supply.”

Pollution

Piarapakaran said another issue with tube wells or conventional wells was that they are exposed to pollution. He said brownish water could be due to the presence of manganese.

“We have all these issues and nobody is taking samples of the water to determine whether it  is safe to drink. There could be naturally occurring poisons,” he said.

Piarapakaran said water treatment plants and infrastructure in the state needed to be upgraded.

Former National Water Service Commission chairman Charles Santiago agreed infrastructure remained an issue.

“One of the problems that Kelantan suffers from is a lack of investment in the water sector for a long period of time,” Santiago said.

“Now they are restructuring (but) it is going to take some time. The water sector is very capital intensive and both the state and federal governments don’t have much money.”

On the quality of water, he said this had a lot to do with the pipes which were old and had corroded.

Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said last month that only 71.7% of the 1.7 million Kelantan residents had clean water supply.

He said problems with raw water sources were among the main reasons for this. He also noted that 15 of the 36 water treatment plants in Kelantan were not operating at full capacity. – November 16, 2021.