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One bill for water, sewerage
charges
23/07/2007 NST
SITIAWAN: Sewerage charges will be merged with the water bill as sewerage is
part of the "water cycle", Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk
Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said yesterday.
The provision to merge both charges, which was passed last year under the
Water Services Industry Act 2006, took into account that untreated sewerage
would pollute the rivers and cause water treatment to be more expensive.
"The price of treated water would then go up," he said when asked about a
petition by the DAP against the merging of both bills.
Water treatment companies would pay Indah Water Konsortium for treating the
sewerage, while consumers would receive water bills which would include the
charges for sewerage treatment, he said after opening the Beruas Gerakan
division annual delegates’ conference in Ayer Tawar near here.
Asked if this would mean that those who refused to pay the sewerage charges
would have their water supply cut off, he said: "Unless you don’t use the
toilet."
Asked about the poor who could not afford the new tariffs, he said the
ministry would work out a solution.
He said the Act included a fine for those who failed to pay the new water
tariffs but the amount was not as high as that claimed by the DAP.
About 10,000 people have signed the petition.
DAP Youth chief Nga Kor Ming said the petition was to safeguard those who
might be deprived of water supply if they failed to pay for sewerage
treatment.
"It is an unscrupulous way to collect payment for treating sewerage."
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