THE Penang government has received a preliminary report from Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBAPP), over a burst pipe in Sungai Perai, Butterworth, and ordered five immediate measures to be implemented.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said among them was that PBAPP must monitor the Sungai Perai underground pipeline, which was undergoing daily repairs until a permanent solution can be implemented.

“The permanent solution is to install a pipeline across the river, which will be supported by a structure above the surface and with an estimated cost of RM5 million. It should be completed as soon as possible in 2024, to allow for periodic inspections and avoid recurrence,” he said in a statement today.

About 200,000 consumers in Barat Daya and Seberang Perai experienced water supply disruption, following the temporary closure of a pipeline Sungai Perai, which burst on December 18.

He said PBAPP must detect and report the location of other underground pipelines in the state, and should carry out special inspections on other pipelines to gauge the risk of similar incidents recurring.

Chow said experts should regularly inspect all main pipelines and explore methods to detect potential defects or failures.

He said the state government also requested the replacement of the old main pipeline to be expedited.

“PBAP must ensure the restoration of water supply services for the 590,000 water users affected by the scheduled water supply interruption from January 10, according to the previously announced schedule.

“Water supply for the remaining 0.2% of users – about 1,000 people residing at the end of the distribution line and on higher ground with specific issues – must also be restored as soon as possible after 96 hours,” he said.

He said based on the findings from the initial report submitted by PBAPP, the cause of the incident was unknown and difficult to ascertain as the pipeline was located 3.5m below the bottom of Sungai Perai.

He said the broken pipeline had to be repaired immediately as it caused a leak resulting in a sudden water pressure drop for 200,000 users in Penang, which affected supply to Barat Daya and some areas in Seberang Perai.

“The people and the state government expect PBAPP to do more and perform better from January 2024,” he said. – Bernama, December 30, 2023.