Pahang should be glad to pass the water issue over to Perak

Tuesday March 13, 2007 - The Star by YOPE KEY-DARE, Kuantan

PAHANG should be thankful and relieved if there are other states wishing to take its proposed role as the provider of water under the RM3bil Pahang-Selangor Inter-State Raw Water Transfer (ISRWT) project.

If press reports quoting Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali as saying that Perak is willing to channel 800 million litre per day of water from its Sungai Bernam to Selangor are true, then Pahang should be glad to pass the baton to the silver state.

Tajol Rosli’s proposal came with a condition that the water would be first treated at a plant to be built in Perak, before the fully treated water is transferred to Selangor.

Pahang is said to be the preferred choice for the ISRWT project because of its large tracts of water catchment areas covering almost half of the 3.569 million hectares of the state’s land.

Under the ISRWT project, among others, there is a requirement to build two dams and a 45km underground tunnel.

These two elements of the ISRWT alone could cause major damage to the environment, thus inviting strong opposition from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The two sites where the dams are supposed to be built are in Kelau, Raub, involving an area of about 4,090 hectares; and another in Telemong, Bentong, involving about 1,532 hectares.

However, the Pahang state government under Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, who feared that the two dams would cause great environmental impact, decided to build only one. Thus the one at Telemong was shelved.

What about the proposed 45km tunnel that not only costs 65% of the entire mega project but is also the main concern of environmental damage?

On the Kelau dam itself, sacrifice has to be made by the people of Pahang including the orang asli who will be moved out to a new settlement.

Furthermore, the water that comes from the catchments will be transferred to Selangor from where it will be treated and supplied to consumers.

This brings little benefit to Pahang because untreated water does not command as high a price as treated water.

Pahang has asked for 15 sen per cubic metre. Selangor, on the other hand, requested a mere 2 sen per cubic metre.

With all the sacrifices Pahang has to make, would it be really worth its while to have this project in the first place?

If not, then Perak should be most welcome to take over from Pahang as the provider of water under this inter-state project.