Water management or rather water mismanagement has been making headline news in Malaysia for months. PEM takes an in-depth look at the Penang Water Supply Corporation and reveals how this public-private partnership has thrived and become a model for the rest of the nation.
IT HAS BEEN a busy couple of months for the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP, more commonly referred to as PBA). On December 28, 2010, the water company carried out major upgrading and maintenance works, a project that cost RM43mil and involved 31 jobs and 300 staff working that day. In January 2011, an RM19.3mil reservoir project in Pulau Jerejak was announced, designed specifically for the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone (FIZ). Water consumption in the FIZ is expected to go up to as high as 80 million litres a day.
Despite such costs, Penang’s water remains the cheapest in the country. It’s no wonder people point to the PBA as an example of privatised utilities done right.
Other states haven’t fared nearly as well. Selangor in particular is in the midst of an ugly standoff between the state government and private water companies over the disastrous state of its water services. The state government’s attempts to reacquire its water assets have yet to meet any success, with none of the parties able to come to an agreement. Selangor is regarded as a prime example of utility privatisation gone wrong.
