One bill for water, sewerage charges
23/07/2007 NST

SITIAWAN: Sewerage charges will be merged with the water bill as sewerage is part of the "water cycle", Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said yesterday.

The provision to merge both charges, which was passed last year under the Water Services Industry Act 2006, took into account that untreated sewerage would pollute the rivers and cause water treatment to be more expensive.

"The price of treated water would then go up," he said when asked about a petition by the DAP against the merging of both bills.

Water treatment companies would pay Indah Water Konsortium for treating the sewerage, while consumers would receive water bills which would include the charges for sewerage treatment, he said after opening the Beruas Gerakan division annual delegates’ conference in Ayer Tawar near here.

Asked if this would mean that those who refused to pay the sewerage charges would have their water supply cut off, he said: "Unless you don’t use the toilet."

Asked about the poor who could not afford the new tariffs, he said the ministry would work out a solution.

He said the Act included a fine for those who failed to pay the new water tariffs but the amount was not as high as that claimed by the DAP.

About 10,000 people have signed the petition.

DAP Youth chief Nga Kor Ming said the petition was to safeguard those who might be deprived of water supply if they failed to pay for sewerage treatment.

"It is an unscrupulous way to collect payment for treating sewerage."