ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 26 — The Johor government, through Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd, is set to develop four new Water Treatment Plants (LRAs) at an estimated cost of RM1.41 billion to address growing water demand from the state’s data centres.

State Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the new LRAs, which will be built in Kulai, Johor Baru and Pontian, are aimed at ensuring the stability of existing domestic water supplies without disruption.

"The projects include two LRAs in Kulai: the Semangar LRA with a capacity of 50 million litres per day (MLD) at a cost of RM70 million, and the Semangar 3 LRA with a 200 MLD capacity at a cost of RM990 million.

"The other two LRAs are the Layang 2 Phase 2 in Johor Baru, with a 160 MLD capacity at a cost of RM200 million, and the Kayu Ara Pasong LRA in Pontian, with a 90 MLD capacity at a cost of RM150 million,” he told the state legislative assembly sitting here when responding to a query from Haslinda Salleh (BN-Tenang).

On October 29, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said Johor is home to over 50 data centres currently in the application, construction or operational phases, spurred by the establishment of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

In addition, Mohamad Fazli said Johor has already replaced 76.5 kilometres (km) of ageing water pipes across seven districts since January.

"The replacement project covers Pontian (24.1km), Johor Baru (19.2km), Segamat (14.4km), Batu Pahat (6.5km), Muar (6.2km), Kluang (5.9km) and Kota Tinggi (0.2km).

"Since 2010, a total of 1,690.49 km of old water pipes has been replaced. However, due to the vast network of pipelines, full replacement cannot be achieved within a short timeframe,” he added. — Bernama