Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow of George Town announced that the work conducted at the Sungai Dua water treatment plant is currently ahead of schedule. He explained that the replacement of two units of 1.2m control valves and 19 out of 22 other preventive maintenance projects have been completed. The work, which was estimated to take 24 hours, was finished at 3.30pm on Wednesday.
However, Chow noted that it was still too early to estimate when water would resume throughout the whole state “We are ahead of schedule but until and unless the last consumer and the end of the line receive water, we cannot consider the operations successful yet,” he said.
Chow also mentioned that if everything went as planned, water would be restored in the first few areas as early as 6am on Thursday. The areas that would receive water supply first include the Northern Seberang Prai, Central Seberang Prai and some parts of George Town.
Chow expressed satisfaction with Penang Water Supply Corporation’s (PBAPP) work, stating that they have completed what he asked them to do. He also mentioned that tanks have been set up and will be refilled to ensure that affected areas have access to water during the maintenance work.
He went on to say that the water treatment operations have not yet begun but would start on that day. He also added that the Bukit Dumbar Reservoir needed to be filled before the water goes to the Bukit Gedung Reservoir and Teluk Kumbar Reservoir.
Chow emphasized that this is a scheduled preventive maintenance project and not an unexpected incident that suddenly occurred. This means that they are prepared to handle the situation and ensure the affected areas have access to water.
