GEORGE TOWN, Nov 7 — The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) and the state government will be working with the federal government to implement four major water supply projects in Penang.

One of these projects, the Lahar Yooi Pump House under Phase 2C of the Mengkuang Dam Expansion Project (MDEP), will be constructed to pump an additional 440 million litres per day (MLD) of raw water from Sungai Muda to refill the expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD), which has a capacity of 86.4 billion litres.

The pump house will support PBAPP’s plan to convert the EMD from a strategic drought reserve to a daily-use dam.

PBAPP Chief Executive Officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said the pump house would also ensure that maximum drawdowns from the EMD of up to 1,040 MLD are achievable and sustainable during emergencies that threaten water supply in Penang.

He mentioned that Sulaiman Kamisan, Director of the Water Supply Division at the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, confirmed the approval of the Lahar Yooi pump house project, which will be funded by the remaining allocation from the RM1.2 billion MDEP budget.

"The Penang state government and PBAPP are also seeking federal assistance to lay a new 440 MLD dual-purpose pipeline from the EMD to the Sungai Dua Canal,” he said in a statement today.

He explained that the pipeline is necessary to support the operations of the proposed Lahar Yooi pump house, and it will also channel additional raw water to the dam during wet seasons.

"In effect, the maximum drawdown from the EMD will increase from 600 MLD to 1,040 MLD once this pipeline is commissioned,” he added.

Pathmanathan noted that the Water Supply Division has requested the state government to submit a notice of change to expand the scope of Phase 2C of the MDEP to include the pipeline.

"If possible, the remaining federal funds allocated for the MDEP will be used to lay the pipeline,” he said.

Meanwhile, PBAPP is also seeking federal funding for two mini-dam projects, known as off-river storage schemes (ORSS), to be built near the riverbanks of Sungai Muda in North Seberang Perai and Sungai Kerian in South Seberang Perai.

"These two ORSS projects may be considered additional safeguards to support a continuous and reliable water supply in North and South Seberang Perai,” he said.

He added that the Penang state government and PBAPP were asked to apply for federal funding for the ORSS projects under the 13th Malaysia Plan.

These four additional projects are intended to secure a stable water supply in Penang and will complement Penang’s RM1.184 billion Water Contingency Plan 2030 and the RM4.5 billion Perak-Penang Water Project.

The projects were discussed during a meeting last month in Putrajaya between state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari, a PBAPP delegation, and Sulaiman.