KELANTAN’S water problems are expected to be solved by 2023, said Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

“The biggest problem in Kelantan is water sources. More than 50% of Kelantan’s water is extracted from the ground, which leads to high treatment cost,” he told the Dewan Negara today.

He added that the state also has to address the issue of high non-revenue water.

The government has sanctioned allocations to expand water treatment plants in the state.

“We expect Kelantan to get complete water supply by 2023 with the expansion of a few water treatment plants,” he said.

The PAS deputy president also said the water tariff, which stands at RM1.10 per 1,000l, was last reviewed in 2013.

Kelantan is among three states – apart from Sabah and Sarawak – where lack of access to clean water sources is in critical levels.

As for Pahang, Tuan Ibrahim said the state’s water tariff was last reviewed in 1983. It also has the lowest water tariff in the country at 79 sen.

“This means it has been 37 years since Pahang raised its water tariff,” he said.

“Pahang is among the states with a critical financial position, because it has been a long time since a review was done,” he added.

Two years ago, the Pahang government agreed to embark on a water services industry restructuring exercise with Putrajaya.

“Pahang is in the migration process and we expect the state to complete the migration to the federal government in October.

“With that, it can settle debts borne by the federal government,” he said.

“We are confident we can provide states suffering from water problems with the necessary solutions.”

He was responding to a supplementary question by Senator Dr Ahmad Azam Hamzah on whether water problems in the two states could be resolved if the water tariff is increased.

Meanwhile, Tuan Ibrahim said currently, the federal government does not intend to increase water tariffs nationwide in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and challenging economic conditions. – September 10, 2020.