Selangor Journal
The Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant. — Picture by Air Selangor.

Moving towards digitalisation, more people switch to e-Bill — Air Selangor

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 —  As the world is moving towards digitalisation, Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) is committed to digitising its services, such as encouraging customers towards online transactions and further improving the Air Selangor mobile application. 

Its chief executive officer Suhaimi Kamaralzaman said that the current pandemic has pushed people to adapt to digitisation and this has resulted in 590,625 (23.7 per cent) of Air Selangor’s customers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya having switched to e-bill as of December 2020. 

“This has contributed to the reduction of 25 per cent in paper usage for physical bills from 396,617 kilogrammes (kg) in 2019 to 297,380 kg in 2020, equivalent to saving 2,620 trees. 

“In 2021, the number is rising, so we have a huge push to make people go online,” he said in a virtual press conference on Air Selangor’s inaugural 2020 sustainability report, themed “Towards Sustainable Water Management” today. 

He highlighted some of the company’s achievements through multiple sustainability initiatives in 2020, which in turn has resulted in a positive impact on the economy, environment and society.

Suhaimi said that the first sustainability report focuses on Air Selangor’s efforts and strategies in continuing to drive its long-term efficient and sustainable water supply management and administration to over 8.4 million consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya.

“In 2020, Air Selangor, for the first time, has issued the Sukuk Muharabah comprising Islamic Medium Term Financial Notes (IMTN) and Islamic Commercial Papers (ICP) with a value of RM10 billion. 

“Through the Sukuk Murabahah programme, Air Selangor will be able to issue the SRI Sukuk Kelestarian Air Selangor (Sukuk Kelestarian) in the near future to finance and implement sustainable investment projects. This is in line with our capital investment programmes, sustainability strategies, and key sustainable development goals,” he said. 

According to him, National Water Services Commission (Span) has approved a capital expenditure (Capex) of RM5.09 billion for the first operating period, based on Air Selangor’s 30:35 Business Plan in November 2020, for the implementation of sustainable water supply management strategic plans and initiatives.

In 2020, Air Selangor experienced a reduction in the average annual rate of non-revenue water (NRW) from 29.7 per cent in 2019 to 28.53 per cent, exceeding the 29.2 per cent target set by the Span. 

He said that Air Selangor was determined to further reduce the NRW rate to 25 per cent by 2025 and further to 15 per cent by 2049.  

Apart from that, Suhaimi added that the company’s revenue in 2020 has improved to RM2.18 billion, an increase of 3.62 per cent, compared with RM2.10 billion in the previous year. 

Meanwhile, on the need for the government to introduce a fund as an initiative to reduce water bill payment rates, he said that various aspects needed to be examined first, such as the appropriateness and usefulness of the fund for consumers, especially those affected by Covid-19, and movement control.

He added that water bill discount is a decision of the government and not Air Selangor, such as the electricity bill discount under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih) and Pemerkasa Plus initiatives.

“For us, there is no fund for water. Any (announcement on) discounts should be made by the government. On our part, we submitted the water tariff… If the government wants to create a fund, it needs to be examined for what use and what percentage of the discount (to be given),” he said.

— Bernama

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