Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad claimed the recent proposed hike in the “water conservation surcharge”, was an indirect water price hike.
He said the surcharge in Nov 2010 was 24 sen/1,000 litres of water after 35,000 litres of water used.
“Although the DAP and Lim Guan Eng had promised several times not to increase the water tariffs in Penang, he had increased the domestic tariffs by 16.7% since Apr 1, 2015.
“The DAP-led Penang government has broken its promise to Penangites,” Farid said.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently announced the surcharge, first introduced in 2010, to be increased from 48 sen to RM1, for 25% of 504,400 home water users deemed to be water wasters.
“Since 2008, Lim Guan Eng has administered the Penang government like a business, and to make profits.
“Not enough with selling thousands of acres of government land to private developers, even the Sungai Muda water has been sold to the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA Holdings Bhd).
“In the end, the rakyat have to pay for everything (they use) so the Penang government can make a profit,” Farid said.
Farid, who is three-term Penang assemblyman, gave as example the raw water charge by the state government on the PBA for water drawn from Sungai Muda.
Nearly 80% of Penang’s water supply is drawn from Penang’s portion of the Sungai Muda.
According to him, the state government has been making 6 sen per cubic metre of raw water drawn from the river since Jan 1 last year. Before that, it charged PBA 3 sen for every cubic metre of water drawn.
In a Bursa Malaysia filing last year, PBA said it had paid the Penang government RM8.4 million in raw water intake fees for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015.
The fee can be charged on PBA with powers given to the state governments under Article 110 of the Federal Constitution.
Farid asked the Penang government if it would increase the surcharge for water wasters again if the water use did not drop as expected.
He said rather than increasing rates or surcharges, the state should consider holding education programmes to encourage water saving.
“Despite having the surcharge increased twice, the Penang government has admitted that it has not helped reduce the general per capita water use in the state.”