It sent a letter on April 28 to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) seeking the rate hike which it plans to implement next year, said Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA) CEO Jaseni Maidinsa.
“While raising the Water Conservation Surcharge, we are also appealing to all 504,400 registered home users in Penang to use water wisely.
“The surcharge does not affect 75% of home users who use less than 35,000 litres a month.
“It also does not affect 85,397 trade category consumers in Penang,” Jaseni told a media conference attended by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today.
The surcharge is currently set at 48 sen for every 1,000 litres consumed by home users above 35,000 litres a month.
Penang plans to raised this surcharge to RM1 for every 1,000 litres consumed above 35,000 litres a month.
Jaseni said Penang was the largest consumer of water in the country, at 286 litres/capita/day (l/c/d/), last year.
He said the corporation wanted to bring down the amount to 257 l/c/d once the increased surcharge came into effect.
“Other states that charge more for water have achieved less than 250 l/c/d. Let us show them that Penang can achieve 257 l/c/d while remaining as the state with the cheapest water.
“It is an easy target. Just use 10% less water. Please remember, Penang’s per capita domestic consumption was 255 l/c/d/ in 2000.”
Currently, the average water tariff for Penang’s home users is 32 sen for every 1,000 litres, versus an average RM1.31 for home users in Johor where the consumption rate was 221 l/c/d/ in 2015.
In Melaka, where consumption was at 235 l/c/d in 2015, the average water tariff for home users is 89 sen per 1,000 litres.
On another matter, Jaseni and Lim congratulated the PBA contingent for winning the best contingent competition during the National Workers’ Day parade in Putrajaya recently.
The 80-strong contingent was led by PBA’s human resources division chief Mohd Zulkifli Abdul Hamid. He received a trophy from Prime Minister Najib Razak.