Be Prepared To Pay More For Water

[exobay]

http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/spore-water-deal-be-reviewed?page=0,1

S'pore water deal to be reviewed

Sim Bak HengNew Straits Times
Monday, Feb 17, 2014

JOHOR BARU - For the first time in 53 years, the raw water agreement between Johor and its neighbour across the Causeway, Singapore, is set to undergo a review.

The Attorney-General's Chambers has given the Johor government the green light to reassess the rate charged for the raw water it supplies to Singapore, which has been in place since 1961.
Following the move, Johor is expected to raise the rate sometime this year.

It will also embark on a "zero water dependency" programme so that it would no longer need to purchase treated water from Singapore in the future.

Although the rate has yet to be announced, it is believed that the state will stick to the rate proposed during the tenure of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which was 60 sen per 1,000 gallons of raw water.

Currently, under the terms of the Malaysia-Singapore Agreement in 1961 and 1962, Singapore's Public Utilities Board (PUB) purchases raw water from Johor at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons (4,546.09 litres) and sells the treated water at 50 sen per 1,000 gallons to Johor.

Johor sells 250 million litres of raw water to Singapore daily, and buys two per cent of the total back from them in the form of treated water, equivalent to five million litres daily.

State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the state executive council had discussed and raised the matter with the Federal Government last August.

Since then, the Attorney-General's Chambers has been studying the legal aspects of the raw water agreement inked between the two countries more than five decades ago.

"Early last month, we received a favourable reply from the A-G's Chambers, with regards to the legal aspects of the revised rates," he said.

"The A-G's Chambers met a Johor legal advisory team in Kuala Lumpur in early January and told them that we have the right to review the rate. With the green light, it is just a matter of time before we come up with the new rate."

Hasni said the state government was anticipating that when the rate of raw water rate is increased to 60 sen per 1,000 gallons, Singapore would also hike the rate of treated water sold to Johor.

In view of this, he said Johor would launch a "zero water dependency" programme by June this year. Under the programme, the state government will lay more pipes and improve the capacity of water treatment plants.

"We hope to accomplish the programme within a year, which is by June next year. Once we have accomplished the programme, Johor will be self-sufficient and does not have to buy treated water from Singapore," said Hasni.

He said raising the price of raw water was long overdue and Malaysia had been doing a social service by selling raw water to Singapore at a low rate for too many years.

He said the new rate will reflect the actual price of raw water.

 

[jubilee1919]

To be fair to the Malaysians, paying 3 sens for 1000 litres raw water is too darn cheap when we pay S$1.00 for a bottle of demin water. Sigh what to do?:(

 

[GoldenPeriod]

time to take over Johor for merger and call it Singapohor.

 

[erection2015]

this below mentioned bum will do his best to squeeze us for maximum money .

Although the rate has yet to be...r 1,000 gallons of raw water. .[/QUOTE]

 

[exobay]

At this rate the cost of living here will make many Singaporeans to call themselves Singapoorreans.:(

 

[erection2015]

lol....already poor man.

At this rate the cost of living here will make many Singaporeans to call themselves Singapoorreans.:(

 

[Hans168]

At this rate the cost of living here will make many Singaporeans to call themselves Singapoorreans.:(

hahaha.........................................................................................................haha

 

[Cestbon]

To be fair to the Malaysians, paying 3 sens for 1000 litres raw water is too darn cheap when we pay S$1.00 for a bottle of demin water. Sigh what to do?:(

Use math wrong .
Is not 3sens for 1000litre >>> is 3 sens for 1000 gallon.
US standard 1 gallon = 3.3L
UK standard 1 gallon = 4.5L
I think is base on UK/England standard because it was sign when Bristish was in power.
So is 3 sens for 4500L.
Your jaw will drop so damn cheap that why Mahathir damn angry and LKY take advantage of the agreement when not review due time.

 

[exobay]

Use math wrong .
Is not 3sens for 1000litre >>> is 3 sens for 1000 gallon.
US standard 1 gallon = 3.3L
UK standard 1 gallon = 4.5L
I think is base on UK/England standard because it was sign when Bristish was in power.
So is 3 sens for 4500L.
Your jaw will drop so damn cheap that why Mahathir damn angry and LKY take advantage of the agreement when not review due time.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[griffin]

I think is base on UK/England standard because it was sign when Bristish was in power.
So is 3 sens for 4500L.
Your jaw will drop so damn cheap that why Mahathir damn angry and LKY take advantage of the agreement when not review due time.

Statistics are only half the story!
I think Singapore spends a lot on purifying the raw water. A couple of years ago I saw the state of Scudai and Tebrau rivers that supply raw water to Singapore. They were very, very filthy. Decomposing carcasses of animals, human waste and other unmentionables floated in the rivers as water management by Johore authorities is non-existent. With illegal settlers along the river banks, the hygiene of the rivers have taken a beating. This is the main reason why Johore dare not purify the water and takes the easy way out by buying back its own, but cleaner water, from Singapore.

If Malaysians are smart enough they could operate their own filtration plants and sell us clean water at a price which they think is reasonable.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Statistics are only half the story!
I think Singapore spends a lot on purifying the raw water. A couple of years ago I saw the state of Scudai and Tebrau rivers that supply raw water to Singapore. They were very, very filthy. Decomposing carcasses of animals, human waste and other unmentionables floated in the rivers as water management by Johore authorities is non-existent. With illegal settlers along the river banks, the hygiene of the rivers have taken a beating. This is the main reason why Johore dare not purify the water and takes the easy way out by buying back its own, but cleaner water, from Singapore.

If Malaysians are smart enough they could operate their own filtration plants and sell us clean water at a price which they think is reasonable.

Walao dun be so simple minded la.
The raw water that Malaysia sell to us must meet a minimum standard.
Water treatment is not one size fits all....different level of pollutants in the raw water requires different methods of treatment.
So the raw water that we buy from Malaysia must meet minimum standard...
If like what you said then malaysia can pipe to use sewage water....afterall we can turn it to NEWater.

 

[griffin]

Walao dun be so simple minded la.
The raw water that Malaysia sell to us must meet a minimum standard.
Water treatment is not one size fits all....different level of pollutants in the raw water requires different methods of treatment.
So the raw water that we buy from Malaysia must meet minimum standard...
If like what you said then malaysia can pipe to use sewage water....afterall we can turn it to NEWater.

I am not aware of any requirement that raw water sent to Singapore must meet some standard. If there is one, I stand corrected.

There is a paper pertaining to this topic by the Centre for NTS Studies on the topic under discussion.
(http://www.rsis.edu.sg/nts/HTML-Newsletter/Insight/NTS-Insight-aug-1301.html) Some mention is made on pollution affecting the cost of water treatment. I reproduce it below.

Increasing water pollution

Water quality monitoring of 464 rivers nationwide undertaken by Malaysia’s Department of Environment in 2011 showed that 32.3 per cent were ‘slightly polluted’ and 8.4 per cent ‘polluted’ (59.3 per cent of the rivers were ‘clean’).23 As water uses increase across multiple sectors, surface water pollution grows as a concern for Johor and its water export recipients. Major sources of pollution include improper discharge from sewage treatment plants, agro-based factories, livestock farming, land clearing and domestic sewage, much of which is linked to Johor’s primary sources of economic revenue and can lead to significant pollution.

In 2008, 14 out of 21 rivers in Iskandar Malaysia had moderate pollution levels while 5 rivers (Pandan, Plentong, Sebulung, Sengkuang and Tampoi) in the Tebrau catchment exhibited more serious pollution.24 One river in the Pasir Gudang catchment experienced severe pollution ‘most likely caused by industrial and development activities’.25 As pollution worsens, the cost of water treatment has gone up, placing new strains on the government. With urbanisation increasing, runoff from urban areas may lead to large amounts of heavy metals entering the water, soil and air through various pathways. Growth in industrial activity and transportation trends in bustling Johor Bahru will further exacerbate the pollution threats.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

Singapore sells the treated water back to Johore at a lost...that is the reasoning,,.,why we only pay 3 sen...malaysia still gains as it gets treated water back at a lost to singapore...if mudland treat their own water themselves it will cost more,,,,and i think infrastructure etc is borne by singapore

 

[syed putra]

Even at 60 sen for 1000 gallons its still damn cheap. Dont forget, a huge swath if land is taken by the PUB the size of Jurong as a water catchment area plus the pipes cannot be touched, complicating development efforts including a half bridge over the johore straits. Without a bridge, leisure craft and tug and barges are forced to sail south just to get to the other side, complicating marina development effort.
Pahang will sell water to Selangor at RM3/ 1000 litres when the tunnel is completed channelling water from Pahang river to a new water treatment plant.

 

[winnipegjets]

Statistics are only half the story!
I think Singapore spends a lot on purifying the raw water. A couple of years ago I saw the state of Scudai and Tebrau rivers that supply raw water to Singapore. They were very, very filthy. Decomposing carcasses of animals, human waste and other unmentionables floated in the rivers as water management by Johore authorities is non-existent. With illegal settlers along the river banks, the hygiene of the rivers have taken a beating. This is the main reason why Johore dare not purify the water and takes the easy way out by buying back its own, but cleaner water, from Singapore.

If Malaysians are smart enough they could operate their own filtration plants and sell us clean water at a price which they think is reasonable.

The Mudlanders have offered to sell treated water but sinkapore doesn't want it.

 

[winnipegjets]

Sinkapore is going to say that mudland has no right to change the price of raw water and if mudland cuts off water supplies, then it is a violation of the separation treaty and justification for war.

Wah, SAF will fight two concurrent wars - one against Indons over naming of a ship and this one over cheap water. Spend billions to fight wars to save pennies. That's how smart our $68-million men are.