KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng today advised PAS against using Penang ongoing water woes as political fodder in the run-up to the state elections.
The Air Putih assemblyman expressed disappointment that the Islamist party was comparing PAS-led Kedah against DAP-led Penang, saying the water crisis was a universal problem.
“We should be prioritising the people’s needs rather than our political differences. Water supply is something that should be given to everyone as a right and not a privilege,” he said in a statement.
Penang derives 80 per cent of its water from the Sungai Muda in Kedah, and has been facing disruptions in water supply, which Lim said was causing “misery” to hundreds of thousands of consumers.
Lim also reiterated his advice to the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) to improve its crisis management and contingency planning to prevent water rationing in the coming months.
Last Sunday, PBAPP warned 400,000 consumers in Penang of water disruptions this week due to low water levels in Sungai Muda, its main source.
Several states in Malaysia are experiencing increasingly hot weather in the last two months that have affected daily outdoor activities.
Paddy farmers in Kelantan, another PAS-led state, have been reported to be having irrigation issues and fear lower yields from the food crop this season due to the drought.
