Water companies are calling for a review of the water tariffs as they say almost all companies managing water supply are operating at a loss.
Selangor State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Izham Hashim said the current water tariff is still too low while the capital expenditure is quite high adding that there has been no review of water tariffs for over 20 years.
“Water tariffs have not been reviewed for more than 20 years. Electricity was quite frequent. Actually, almost all water management companies are operating at a loss,” Izham said.
Recently, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the state governments, cross-party, agreed at the National Water Council meeting that water tariffs in the states should be reviewed and a new tariff-setting mechanism established to regulate the rate of tariff increases by operating companies.
Most states operate water as part of a state run company in order to keep pricing within manageable levels, as part of their election vows, some states like Selangor had promised free water to residents at a certain threshold. However, these deliveries were than scaled back with only those under the B40 bracket now enjoy free water.
