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SATURDAY | JUNE 21, 2025

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Air Selangor on right track in curbing treated water loss

Village residents get assurance on memorial project

KLANG: Port Klang assemblyman Azmizam Zaman Huri is confident that the Klang Royal City Council will reject a proposal to build a four-storey memorial near the Kampung Raja Uda Mosque here. “Personally, I am optimistic that the council will reject the developer’s proposal because they failed to present or justify the suitability of the project in an area with a Malay and Muslim majority. “The proposal is clearly irrelevant as the land zoning under the council local plan up to 2035 specifies the proposed project site as a limited commercial area,”he said after attending a public hearing on the memorial development. The session, which involved residents, the developer and the Town Planning Department, was chaired by council deputy mayor Mohd Zary Affendi Mohd Arif at the council’s building on Thursday. Azmizam, who led the residents in protesting the proposal, said under current laws, only 28 types of limited commercial activities are allowed in the area – none of which include the construction of memorial-related buildings. He also urged the council to provide assurance that no construction would be allowed at the proposed site unless official approval is obtained, in line with Section 19 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976. Meanwhile, Kampung Raja Uda Mosque nazir Ismail Arsat also voiced concern that the village status as part of the royal city could be tarnished by the construction of the memorial. He said the iconic landmark and main attraction of the village, the Raja Uda Mosque, would be marred should the memorial be built just 83m from the mosque. Meanwhile, the coucil said it would consider objections and proposals from both sides before referring the matter to the One Stop Centre committee meeting on June 24 for assessment and interpretation. – Bernama Council declutters home of senior citizen IPOH: The Ipoh City Council has conducted a clean-up operation for the fifth time at a residential premises in Jalan Merpati, Taman Ipoh, which had been used as a collection point for recyclable goods and a dumping ground. Ipoh Mayor Zamakhshari Hanipah said in a statement the operation, in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department, was carried out due to complaints regarding activities at the premises, despite two legal actions having been taken against the premises owner since 2020. “However, the owner (a 71-year-old woman) continues the activity of collecting recyclable items and storing them in her yard, causing disturbance to the local community. He said the operation, which began at 9am on Thursday and involved 26 council personnel as well as nine welfare department members and volunteers, was carried out smoothly, with the woman fully cooperating with the operation team. The operation was led by council member Lam Yew Tact, legal adviser Syahrul Azrin Ghazali and welfare department representative Syed Abdul Halim Hilmy Syed Omar. Zamakhshari said three five-tonne capacity lorries were used to dispose the unusable items at the location while recyclable items were collected and sold with the help of volunteers. The proceeds from the sale have been handed to the woman. “The council hopes that such an integrated approach would serve as an example in holistically addressing social issues based on public complaints,” he added. – Bernama

Ű BY IKHWAN ZULKAFLEE newsdesk@thesundaily.com

o Company plans to increase manpower, instal pressure technology on main pipelines to boost leak detection: CEO

PETALING JAYA: Non-revenue water (NRW) in Selangor has continued to decline, dropping from 31% in 2017 to 27% in 2024, as Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) steps up its infrastructure investments and operational initiatives. Air Selangor CEO Adam Saffian Ghazali told theSun the state’s NRW rate remains below the national average, reflecting effective water management strategies. “On a national level, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation minister, Malaysia’s NRW stood at 37.1% as of 2023,” he said. However, Selangor’s NRW rate remains above the globally recommended threshold of 25%, the benchmark for efficient water utilities in developing countries, as set by the World Bank and the International Water Association. The current 27% NRW rate translates to a daily loss of 298.36 million litres of treated water, prompting Air Selangor to target a reduction to 25% by 2030. This will be achieved through pipe replacement projects and a public reporting campaign via its mobile app and website. In addition to technology upgrades, Adam Saffian said the company plans to increase manpower to strengthen leak detection cabability. He added that limited resources within its Active Leakage Control (ALC) team remain a challenge in addressing NRW effectively. “The current 261 ALC personnel are not enough to combat NRW and further bring down leakage rates. “We plan to raise the number of inspectors from 187 to 210 to boost detection efforts across the pipe network in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, covering more than 160,000 potential leak cases.” He added that Air Selangor also aims to instal pressure transient technology on main pipelines to detect leaks at an earlier stage. “This will allow immediate repair works to be carried out, preventing prolonged supply disruptions. The technology is already in use by water operators in developed countries such as Singapore, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.”

Adam Saffian said despite ongoing NRW challenges, with capital investment for physical and commercial loss reduction alone reaching RM450 million annually, Air Selangor continues to see positive developments. – ADIB RAWI YAHYA/THESUN

Adam Saffian said under its 30-year business plan, Air Selangor is leveraging its own capital expenditure to implement key initiatives that will enhance operational efficiency across its service areas. “The plan, which spans from Operating Period 1 in 2019 to Operating Period 10 in 2049, outlines a projected total investment of RM35 billion.” In recognition of its NRW reduction efforts, Air Selangor received a RM326 million remuneration incentive under the National NRW Programme. “This was awarded in recognition of our consistent and effective work in reducing the NRW rate to 27.7% during the 2023 evaluation period. Since 2019, we have received a total of RM688.68 million in matching grants from the federal government,” he said. ensure more efficient and effective padi field irrigation management. “This effort is expected to resolve overlapping responsibilities between the Integrated Agriculture Development Area and the department, thereby streamlining infrastructure management and boosting national padi production,” the statement added. Meanwhile, state governments are encouraged to leverage data from the 2024 Interim Agricultural Census and the Integrated Agricultural Statistics System to formulate more focused and high-impact policies, strategies and development plans for the agri-food sector at the state level. “The meeting also noted the urgent need for strategic action to address cross-border livestock smuggling along the Malaysia–Thailand border, to safeguard the sector from disease threats and ensure its continued competitiveness.” The meeting was a strategic platform for policy coordination, information sharing and aligning commitments between the federal and state governments. – Bernama

As of March last year, 636.55km of old pipelines have been replaced across Selangor. “We aimed to increase pipe replacement to 300km annually starting in 2024, ramping up to 400km per year from 2034 onwards, to fully replace 5,000km of asbestos cement pipes within the next 15 years.” Adam Saffian said despite ongoing NRW challenges, with capital investment for physical and commercial loss reduction alone reaching up to RM450 million annually, Air Selangor continues to see positive developments. It is the only utility company in Malaysia inducted into the Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) network. “NRW was one of the core innovation areas we highlighted during our LUOW induction presentation at the Global Water Summit in Paris recently.”

Approval granted for 220 agriculture projects KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 220 projects have been approved under the Land Use Optimisation Programme in collaboration with state governments nationwide for 2024 and 2025 as of May 30. on Thursday. In addition to two papers for consideration and five papers for information, the meeting also discussed a proposal for the official handover of 51 National Satellite Farm complexes built by the Veterinary Services Department using federal funds on state-owned land in Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Perak.

The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry said in a statement the projects encompass crop cultivation, livestock, fisheries, agro-tourism and capacity-building for farmers, planters, fishermen and breeders. “Through Budget 2025, the federal government has allocated RM300 million to execute various agricultural development initiatives in partnership with state governments. “This programme includes improving, upgrading and carrying out agricultural activities on land which is under the joint jurisdiction of state governments and the ministry,” the statement read. The matter was announced at the first meeting of the Agriculture and Food Security minister with state agriculture executive councillors for 2025, held in Putrajaya

“This move aims to streamline the leasing and maintenance of immovable assets by the respective state authorities in a lawful and organised manner. “The meeting agreed that the handover would resolve issues of unclear asset ownership and enable state governments to manage and maintain the assets more systematically, ensuring the continuity of livestock operations and optimal use of existing infrastructure,” the statement read. Meanwhile, on the role of state executive councillors addressing “grey areas” in rice bowl zones, one of the proposals raised was to transfer assets with unclear ownership to the state or the district Department of Irrigation and Drainage to