KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — About 39,895 km out of 135,975 km or 29.3 per cent of the old asbestos cement pipes in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan have exceeded their design operational lifespan, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii said these old pipes were installed 30 to 50 years ago and were a major contributor to the high rate of non-revenue water (NRW).
“In general, the high NRW rates are mainly due to leaks in the connecting pipes and old pipes in the distribution system, especially asbestos cement pipes. The distribution system pipes in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan are made of asbestos cement.
“The NRW rate of 37.2 per cent in 2022 resulted in 7,084 million litres of treated water wasted daily, with water operators losing an estimated RM2 billion annually,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time.
Huang was responding to Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah’s supplementary query on the factors contributing to the NRW issue, whether due to leaking pipes or water theft by irresponsible parties.
He said the Federal government is committed to supporting state water operators in the comprehensive and continuous reduction of NRW, including implementing the National NRW Reduction Programme approved under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) and continued under the 12MP.
Responding to the original question from Kubang Pasu MP Datuk Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail on the government’s efforts to reduce the high levels of NRW in several states, Huang said RM1.9 billion was allocated for the programme via two approaches.
The first approach involves a RM535.4 million grant to build basic infrastructure to accurately measure NRW rates in Kelantan, Pahang, Kedah, Perlis, Sabah, and Sarawak, where the NRW rates are 40 per cent and above.
The second approach is through a RM1.37 billion allocation in matching grants and will involve states with NRW ratios below 40 per cent, namely Terengganu, Selangor, Johor, Perak, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, and Melaka.
“If the set NRW targets can be achieved, the Federal government will fund 50 to 75 per cent of the annual expenditure for the work to reduce the NRW ratio,” he said.
— Bernama
