KUALA LUMPUR – Factories in Penang will close their operations for at least two days due to the water supply disruption from January 10 to 14.
Penang Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) chairman Datuk Seri Lee Teong Li said this follows the assurance from the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) that the water supply will resume in phases in 48 hours.
“Penang FMM has more than 550 members, and I was informed that the majority of members will close their factories.
“ I do not know the total number of affected factories, maybe thousands, because most factories need water supply for their operation and production.
“According to the PBAPP spokesman, in 48 hours, the water supply will resume in stages. If supply recovers by then, the factories will be back to business the following day,” he told Scoop.
Around 590,000 accounts, including non-domestic consumers in Penang, will be facing a scheduled water disruption for 96 hours, from 6am on January 10 until 6am on January 14.
This is to facilitate the replacement of two valve units at the Sg Dua water treatment plant and auxiliary works at 22 locations in Penang.
Lee said his team had never experienced water disruption for as long as 96 hours throughout their operations.
“Before this, supply disruptions never lasted up to four days. The disruption two weeks ago due to pipe leakage in Seberang Prai only lasted for a few hours rather than a day.”
Lee did not discount that there would be FMM members losing millions of ringgit following factory closures because of water supply disruptions.
“It is difficult to come up with the exact amount of losses because each factory has a different profit margin depending on the industry or the type of production.
“There are factories that can make a profit of RM100,000 a day, while big factories make millions.
“There are FMM members who said that due to the closure, they expected to lose up to RM10 million.”
He said the state government should reduce the effects of water supply disruptions in Penang.
“Nobody wants their daily work affected, so we hope if it is possible, the state government can expedite the replacement work. If it takes 48 hours, try to reduce it to 24 hours.
“The state government was also advised to seek external experts related to the water treatment plant to prepare for any issues and implement solutions to prevent recurrence.”
For Lee, his factory will implement overtime on the weekends to compensate for the losses.
Meanwhile, a PBAPP spokesman said that one briefing on the water supply disruption will be held for exco members and state representatives.
“PBAPP chief executive officer will only share information related to the supply disruption with the elected reps. There will be no further statement from PBAPP.” – January 4, 2024