KUALA LUMPUR: Some 145 water infrastructure development projects involving RM6.15bil had been delayed beyond schedule, the Auditor-General’s Report 2/2024 has found from its audit on the national water management system.

The 145 projects involved are part of a total of 712 infrastructure projects worth RM19.89bil under the 11MP and 12MP.

The audit was conducted on the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability as well as the Energy Transition and Water Transformation ministries.

The delays of these projects ranged between 86 to 1,076 days.

“The audit team found that there were delays in the implementation for 11 out of the 34 Sewerage Services Department water quality development projects namely two projects in Pahang, Perak and Penang respectively, one in Kedah and four in Sabah. The cost of projects experiencing delays beyond schedule was RM4.685bil,” said the report.

In its response to the audit, the Sewerage Services Department (JPP) had said that seven projects were delayed, two had adhered to the schedule, while five were delayed beyond the schedule and one in Indera Mahkota, Pahang, had yet to be completed.

“One project in Papan, Kinta, Perak has yet to be completed, one project in Kota Setar, Kedah and two projects in Bayan Baru, Penang for sewerage and network is still beyond schedule. The project delays were due to the Movement Control Order by the government, delays in pipe installation and arrival of supplies of construction materials,” it said.

The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) on the other hand said the delayed projects has reached 96.7%.

It said 57 plants have yet to be completed, while 579 others have been completed.

Other project delay found was a dam project under the Tawau Water Supply scheme Phase 3 worth RM470.39mil which had been given an extension of 341 days.

The report also found that 623,466 out of the 661,223 septic tanks in the country have not been decontaminated from between 2021 and 2023.

The audit report noted that emptying the septic, communal and traditional toilet tanks will reduce the occurrence of sewerage contamination.

Responding to this, Indah Water Konsortium said septic tanks will have to be decontaminated every two years in areas under local councils and once every three years for areas outside of local council areas.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/05/rm615bil-of-water-infrastructure-projects-delayed