PETALING JAYA: The faulty barrage gate opening that caused water to flow out of Sungai Muda uncontrollably happened outside working hours, says the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).
SPAN chairman Charles Santiago said the incident occurred at around 10pm on May 13.
He said the operation hours for Sungai Muda River Basin Management (PLSM) officers are from 8.30am to 4.30pm with off days on Friday and Saturday.
"Staff there will only work round the clock during the monsoon season," he told a press conference on Monday (July 10).
PLSM is an agency under the Drainage and Irrigation Department.
In line with this, Santiago proposed for the National Resources, Energy and Climate Change Ministry to declare the area as a security zone to increase monitoring efforts and extend operations to 24 hours daily, among others.
“Existing standard operating procedure must be improved.
“At present, PLSM is carrying out operations with a focus on flood mitigation and agriculture sectors.
“The scope has to be expanded to include water supplies," he said.
The press conference was called to reveal the SPAN technical committee’s findings on water supply disruptions in Kedah and Penang due to the water levels that dropped at Sungai Muda earlier this year.
Some 678,000 consumers in Penang and Kedah were affected.
SPAN commissioner Datuk Mohd Azmi Ismail said upgrading of existing technologies were needed given how the previous incident occurred due a “technical glitch”.
“The gate was supposed to be closed but it opened due to a technical failure.
“The system has been in place for 20 years, so regular maintenance needs to be done.
"There were also no SMS alerts to water operators involved,” he said.
In the long-term, SPAN chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Faizal Abdul Rahman proposed the development of alternative water sources to reduce dependence on Sungai Muda as a main water supply.
“Based on news reports, the Perak Mentri Besar was ready to discuss supplying the state’s water to support Penang.
“We hope for a solution,” he added.
In May this year, the faulty barrage gate opening caused water to flow out of Sungai Muda after an automatic sensor failed, forcing over six million account holders in certain areas to face water supply disruption.
By sunrise on May 14, Sungai Muda had fallen from its normal level of 3m to just 50cm.
This caused several areas in Penang and Kedah to face unscheduled water disruptions.
Sungai Muda is the main raw water resource for Kedah and Penang.
