I am shocked and dismayed to read that water tariff in Johor is expected to go up by between 10% and 12% in the next few months due to the high cost of treatment.
Johor state Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad tried to justify the hike by saying that since the last water tariff increase in 2010, the rate for electricity had gone up twice.
While it is undeniable that electricity plays a major factor in the operational costs of water treatment plants, I would like to remind Datuk Hasni Mohammad that the electricity hike affects the whole nation so why there is a need for Johor to revise its water tariff while many other states do no need to do so? States like Sabah, Pahang, Sarawak, Perlis and Terengganu have not been reviewing their water tariff for the past 17 years, so why Johor needs to review its tariff despite the fact that it was just revised in 2011?
The proposed increase is totally unacceptable in view of the fact that Johoreans are currently paying the highest water tariff in the whole Malaysia, despite the fact that Johor can make profit from selling raw waters to Malacca and Singapore.
Currently, the Johor Government is selling raw water to Malacca and Singapore at RM0.30/1000 gallons and RM0.03/1000 gallons respectively, from which the Johor Government receives a monthly payment of RM230,000 from the Malacca government and RM200,000 from the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore.
The charges for raw water supply to Singapore has not seen an increase for the past 53 years. Instead of increasing the water tariff, Johor State Government should first review the selling price in order to gain more profit to the State Government before further burdening the Johorean!