THE water tariff adjustment for Terengganu users, effective February 1, would be low and not burdensome, Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said.

He said 73.8% of households use on average 40 cubic metres of water per month, and would see an average increase of between RM1.80 and RM7.16 per month after the tariff hike, depending on consumption.

“The rate of this hike is the lowest,” he told Bernama today.

Samsuri however said the state government would continue providing subsidies and initiatives to households as proposed by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) when announcing the new water tariff adjustments on Wednesday.

He said the support offered to households by state water utility Syarikat Air Terengganu Sdn Bhd (Satu) currently included a subsidy of 20 cubic metres for users in the B40 group.

“This subsidy involves 11,832 accounts with an annual cost of RM1,176,180.

“The total value of water provided free of charge by the state government has increased from RM8.40 to RM10 per month for each recipient account. However, the higher cost will be absorbed by the state government,” he said, encouraging those who are eligible and have not yet applied for the aid to submit their applications.

He said the provision of water subsidies would also continue for registered mosques and surau involving 1,883 accounts worth RM1.4 million per year, adding up to RM2.5 million per year borne by the state government for that purpose.

He said SPAN’s adjusted average increase of 22 sen per cubic metre was not enough to cover rising operational costs since the last review of water tariffs in Terengganu in 1997.

But he said it would help Satu cover operating costs and continue efforts to improve service levels for 341,546 accounts, 83% of which were households, from last November.

Recently, SPAN announced new water tariffs for domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan that involved an average increase of 22 sen per cubic metre, effective February 1. – Bernama, January 20, 2024.