Selangor to study proposal on individual water meters for high-rise homes

12/05/2008 The Star By Fazleena Aziz

Apparently, meter migration can only take place if the water meters can be modified, accessed and cleaned.

THE Selangor state government will study a proposal to make it mandatory for all high-rise homes to switch from bulk meters to individual meters soon.

State exco member for housing and building maintenance Iskandar Abdul Samad said another proposal being considered is to have Syabas take over the maintenance and billing of water supply at flats, apartments and condominiums.

Iskandar, who is also Chempaka assemblyman, said this during a dialogue session on migration from bulk meters to individual meters with residents of Pandan Indah and Syabas at Dewan MPAJ in Ampang on Saturday.

Iskandar: Another proposal is for Syabas to take over the maintenance and billing of water supply at flats, apartments and condominiums.

He said there were many complaints pertaining to water charges for high-rise dwellers and that the matter would be discussed at the state exco meeting.

“Many people are hoping to change from using bulk meters since the announcement of the 20 cubic metres of free water in Selangor.

“If apartment units can have individual electric meters, I don't see why the same cannot be done for water supply. It appears that management corporations, which are mostly owned by the respective developers, are keen on sticking to bulk meters to enable them to make extra money, “ Iskandar said.

At the dialogue session, residents said some of the conditions imposed by Syabas for migration from bulk to individual meters such as getting 100% approval from all owners was not only impossible to achieve but also unreasonable.

Noor Chazali Hashim from Taman Putra Perdana came to the session with the hope of getting some answers to his application to switch from bulk to individual meter which was submitted in October last year.

“There were 150 owners who submitted their applications through our management corporation. But we have yet to receive any news from Syabas,” he said.

A Syabas official said the company had not received such applications and suggested that Chazali resubmit the application via the residents association.

According to the official, meter migration can only take place if the meters can be modified, accessed and cleaned.

The residents would also have to pay all outstanding balance before the migration is made.

Currently, the residents using bulk meters are charged RM1.38 per cubic metre. For those residing at landed property, the charge starts at 57 sen per cubic metre.