Penangites gear up for 96-hour water disruption next week
A worker at a primary school canteen in Penang collecting water to prepare for the water disruption next week. PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
UPDATED
7 JAN 2024, 8:00 PM SGT
BUTTERWORTH – For school canteen operator Nurul Zalika Atillia Zafri, it will be a case of “keep cooking and carry on” even in the absence of water supply for four days, starting from Jan 10.
The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) had said in December that it will be carrying out valve replacement works at the Sungai Dua water treatment plant and related repairs at several other locations along the main pipeline.
It warned that many areas will have no water supply, while some will have low water pressure.
PBAPP serves over 670,000 consumers in Penang, and nearly 70 per cent of them depend on treated water from the Sungai Dua treatment plant.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow had said that the work to replace two major pipes is challenging, and he hoped the public would understand the long-term need to do so.
Ms Nurul Zalika is well prepared. There are now 360 1.5-litre bottles of drinking water stacked high in her stall.
“I am looking to buy more containers to store tap water for washing too,” said Ms Nurul Zalika, 31, who runs a canteen at a primary school here.
While some hawkers and eateries will cease operations for a few days during the water disruption, Ms Nurul Zalika intends to keep serving the children as the school – which has about 1,000 pupils, teachers and other school workers – will not be closing.
She fortunately need not wash dishes as her stall has been using disposable ones for the past one year.
Another primary school canteen operator, Mr Mohd Amirul Zamil, 32, said he needs to buy at least five big water containers for washing utensils.
Although the school has emergency water tanks, he said they are enough to keep the supply going for only 24 hours.
For now, he said he has yet to finish buying bottled water for cooking and serving drinks.
As for public eateries, Seberang Prai Hawkers and Coffee Shop Owners Association president Lee Kok Yong said almost all of its 400 members will continue to operate during the water disruption.
“Most of our members cannot afford to close their shops for many days because they need to pay their rent daily,” he said, adding that members are taking their own initiative by storing water to use during the supply disruption.
Some shops and stalls plan to shorten their business hours and serve only during peak hours during the four days of the water supply cut.
The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), which has around 500 members in its Penang chapter, expects the water cut to cost millions of ringgit in losses.
A majority of the factories run by its members will close on the first two days of the scheduled water disruption, FMM said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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