KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The Dewan Rakyat today passed a Bill to amend the National Water Services Commission Act 2006 (Act 654) which seeks to streamline governance and strengthen the integrity of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).

Deputy Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister (NRECC) Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii said that after more than 16 years of the implementation of the Act, several areas for improvement have been identified to ensure that it is always relevant to the current development and future needs of the country’s water service industry.

"This includes strengthening SPAN’s governance to be more efficient and increasing regulatory capacity so that more effective enforcement can be implemented.

"In line with global and national initiatives in realising sustainable development, new policies based on circular economy, consumption efficiency, consumer protection and public and private involvement have been introduced,” he said when tabling the Bill for the second reading.

The Bill also seeks to reduce the tenure of office of a member of the commission from 10 years to six years.

The sitting continues tomorrow for the tabling of Budget 2024 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. — Bernama