GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government and the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) have obtained the necessary approvals for the implementation of the raw water transmission project from Sungai Perak to the Bukit Merah Dam.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the project, which had been delayed for 14 years and was previously known as the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transmission Scheme (SPRWTS), welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement yesterday that it had now entered the final phase of planning.
“In the meantime, it is the Penang government’s hope that the process of negotiating the treated water purchase agreement can begin and be completed, in addition to expediting the implementation of this urgent project.
“Overall, the implementation of the Perak-Penang Water Project is very important because it will not only benefit the three states in the north of the Peninsula, but also meet the needs of consumers in the affected South Seberang Perai District (SPS) including existing development centres and those to be established in the future,“ he said in a statement today.
Chow said the Prime Minister yesterday stressed that the initiative is not only expected to increase water distribution for the Kerian Integrated Green Industrial Park (KIGIP) and the entire district around the area, but also expand the supply to Seberang Perai covering Sungai Bakap and Cherok Tok Kun in Penang.
Yesterday, Anwar announced that the planning of the raw water channeling project from Sungai Perak to the Bukit Merah Dam, which is partly to support the KIGIP project and supply treated water to Penang, is now in the final stages.
Anwar who is also the Finance Minister, said the project is expected to increase the capacity of water distribution for industrial and agricultural purposes to the Kerian, Perak and surrounding areas as well as several areas in Penang.
In June last year, Anwar said the government had agreed to allocate an estimated RM4 billion for the implementation of the raw water distribution project from Sungai Perak to the Bukit Merah Dam in Kerian.
