KUALA LUMPUR: The government has allocated RM975.37 million to replace old and leaking water pipes throughout the country.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili said based on the data of the 2014 Malaysia Water Industry Guide, there are about 43,390 km of old pipes made of asbestos cement in the country.
“The estimated allocation needed to replace all the pipes is RM11 billion and the amount is too large under the development budget,” he said in a written reply to a question by Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping) in Dewan Rakyat here, today.
Nga had wanted to know the government’s plan to replace old and leaking water pipes to overcome the loss of non-revenue water.
In this regard, Ongkili said the government had introduced a national water supply service industry restructuring scheme to enable water operators to fund the water supply infrastructure, including replacement of old pipes through Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad.
The Minister said apart from leakage from old pipes, several other factors also contributed to the increase of non-revenue water, including poor pipe connection, old and faulty meters, theft and poor maintenance of water supply systems. -Bernama