President of the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (AWER), S. Piarapakaran, said that with the announcement of the new water tariff adjustment for domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) today, water operators will be more prepared to make continuous investments in developing their water respective supply system infrastructure, such as building or upgrading water treatment plants and replacing old pipes.
“The water tariff adjustment is not being done to give the operators a chance to reap profits, but it is implemented because most of the water tariffs are set by state water operators, and some of them have not been reviewed for a long time.
“It also shows that the cost of water supply is an important aspect to enable water operators to improve their services in providing undisrupted quality water supply,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Piarapakaran also called on consumers to be jointly responsible to ensure the resilience of water supply operators in sustainably supplying treated water, by being prepared to pay a new, reasonable tariff for the common well-being.
According to SPAN, the water tariff adjustment will see an average increase of 22 sen per cubic metre, or a bill charge increase of between RM1.60 and RM8 for each residence or five to 27 cents per day for a household usage of 20 cubic meters per month.
It is implemented under the Tariff Setting Mechanism (TSM) where the tariff structure and components are standardised for states in the peninsula and Labuan, with to be reviewed every three years to ensure consistency in the determination of fees.
It will affect about 6.9 million domestic category users or represents 86.6 per cent, out of 7.9 million account holders.
When asked about the appropriateness of revising the water tariff every three years, Piarapakaran said that the setting of this review period is regulatory in nature to compel water operators to be more efficient in continuously providing high-quality water services while also protecting the rights of consumers.
“So, in three years, we will carry out the review of the tariff again so that the operators don’t take too much profit and after several cycles of tariff setting, we will move to a five-year tariff adjustment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Water Association (MWA) President Dr Mohmad Asari Daud in a statement today also expressed support for SPAN’s decision and highlighted the importance of regular tariff reviews, citing the escalating costs of water treatment and distribution.
He noted that these increasing costs are corroborated by data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, and notably, some service providers, such as Pengurusan Air Pahang, have not revised their domestic water tariffs for 40 years.
“MWA believes that the revision of domestic water tariffs will motivate water service providers to improve their customer service. With these changes, MWA anticipates enhancements in the water supply system and relief to the water ecosystem, which has been facing significant challenges for some time,” he said.– BERNAMA
