18 September 2012 | last updated at 11:55PM
200 apartment residents cry foul over promised water subsidy
KAJANG: About 200 occupants of the Angsana Apartments in Sungai Long here staged a peaceful demonstration yesterday, demanding the water subsidy promised by the Selangor government which is enjoyed by residents with individual water meters and not those bound by bulk water meters.
Residents of Angsana Apartments in Sungai Long, Kajang demanding their free water subsidy from the Selangor government at a peaceful demonstration near their apartment building yesterday. Bernama pic
The residents were sad that they could not enjoy the promised free 20 cubic metres of water per household, said Azizah Azmah, chairman of the joint management body of the Angsana Apartments.
"We have handed over a memorandum on our complaint to Gerakan Prihatin Rakyat Selangor (GPRS) and a law firm (Kamaruddin & Partners) because we want our rights as citizens. "We do not want to be fooled any longer," she said.
The Angsana Apartments has 560 units of apartments. Under the 20 cubic metres free-water scheme implemented by the PKR-led Selangor government, only households with individual meters were entitled to enjoy the water subsidy.
The state had instructed building owners, developers and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) to change bulk water meters to individual water meters since 2008 to make sure everyone could enjoy the free water scheme, but this had not been implemented in many areas.
GPRS chairman Datuk Sohaimi Shahadan told a news conference at the Angsana Apartments that the Selangor government should pay the RM11.40 (equivalent to 20 cubic metres of water) to the residents without individual water meters, backdated to 2008 and amounting to RM570 per household.
Claiming that GPRS had received similar complaints from residents in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Puchong, Gombak and Klang, he said the people could lodge their complaints via "hasrat-selangor.blogspot.com".
"The residents' committees, with the cooperation of GPRS, will convey the complaints to the law firm to initiate court action. The service of the law firm is free," he said. Several residents have also filed a suit against the Selangor government over the matter.
