Water Tariff Hike In Kedah Not Burdending To Consumers - MB Kedah

ALOR SETAR, Aug 20 (Bernama) — Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the increase in water tariff that took effect from August 1 will not burden the people in the state.

According to him, the increase in tariff rate to 81 sen (0 cubic metre to 20 cubic metres) for domestic use is much lower compared to other states.

The increase in tariff rate, he said, is an important step to ensure the ability of Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (SADA) to pay the state government's water debt.

"This tariff increase is not just happening in Kedah... all 10 water supply operators requested it and all were granted," he said during the oral question session at the Kedah State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.

He said this in response to a supplementary question by Bau Wong a/l Bau Ek (PH-Sidam) who wanted to know the need for the water tariff in Kedah to be increased while SADA was recording a profit.

Muhammad Sanusi, who is also the chairman of SADA, said the company needed to record a profit to enable it to pay off debts related to water supply.

According to him, based on SADA's records, the company recorded a profit after tax of between RM31,000 to RM23.1 million between 2010 and 2018 before recording a loss of RM36 million in 2019.

"In 2020, SADA again recorded a profit of RM149,000 and increased to RM29.5 million the following year, RM29.4 million (2022), RM25.2 million (2023), RM41.5 million (2024) and is projected to record a profit of RM80 million this year," he said.

He said that executive power regarding clean water supply lies under the federal Government through the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) as provided under Section 3 of the Water Services Industry Act 2006.

“SPAN issues licenses, all business plan operators are controlled by SPAN, if SPAN finds that the business plan, is not able to cover debt payments, then SPAN can take over with executive power,” he said.

— BERNAMA