IPOH, March 29 — The Perak government has decided that the state’s water sourced from Sungai Perak is to be used only for its people, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad told the State Legislative Assembly today.

Saarani said that the state can’t fulfill the request made by the Penang government to supply it with raw water from Sungai Perak. 

He reiterated that Perak is sympathetic to Penang’s problem, but has solid reasons for rejecting its neighbour’s request and cited reports and comments made by four key agencies: Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Perak Water Board (LAP), Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) and the Perak State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN).

"Sungai Perak water is not only used as a source of treated water supply for the daily use of the people of Perak, but the water is also widely used for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power apart from agriculture, fisheries and growing industry in Perak,” he said. 

Saarani was replying to Tebing Tinggi assemblyman Abdul Aziz Bari who asked the probability of the state supplying raw water to Penang via the Sungai Perak raw water supply scheme. 

Saarani also pointed out that the Housing and Population Census Data 2020 shows Perak has a population of 2.5 million people in 2020 and is projected to increase to 3 million people by 2050. 

"The increase in population will certainly increase the demand for water for domestic and commercial use.  In addition, the increase in population will also boost economic growth in terms of agriculture, fisheries and the industrial sector.

 "Therefore, the increase in demand for water supply will certainly occur in the future and the state government must be prepared to meet the demand for water supply from various aspects so that water needs for the people of Perak can be met and economic development is not hampered,” he said. 

"In conclusion, the four agencies, namely TNB, LAP, JPS and UPEN reported that the water of Sungai Perak is only enough for use in Perak and cannot be supplied to other states,” he added.