The Penang government is optimistic that an agreement on the Sungai Perak water project will be finalised before the end of the year, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
Chow said official negotiations have been under way since August, with two rounds of talks already held.
“I expect the discussions to continue a little longer before an agreement can be reached,” he said after launching a water-saving campaign involving 170 schools at Komtar.
He said the state’s water projects, which included contingency measures and long-term expansions, were projected to take five to six years to complete.
“According to our planning, the contingency project will be completed before 2030. All these projects will add a few hundred million litres a day to our capacity.
“The Perak-Penang water project is on a medium to long-term basis. If we start in 2026, it may be completed in 2031,” he said.
Chow said the state expected two projects to be completed by the end of next year, adding 160 million litres a day to the system.
“Once our projects are completed, we will be able to have more capacity to supply to our consumers,” he said.
In July, it was reported that Perak had agreed to sell treated water to Penang under the project.
The original plan involved transferring raw water from Perak, but the current proposal is for Perak to build a treatment plant and send treated water instead.
Penang’s main water source, Sungai Muda, is projected to dry up by 2030.
