GEORGE TOWN, Jan 4 — Daily operations at public and private hospitals in Penang will carry on as usual during the scheduled four-day water supply disruption next week, said state exco Daniel Gooi Zi Sen.
The health exco said the Penang Hospital is not affected by the water supply interruption while all other government hospitals in the state are also equipped with water tanks that can last 48 hours.
He said non-emergency surgeries in the affected hospitals will be put on hold and rescheduled to another date.
“The hospitals will still be able to take in and handle emergency cases,” he said when met by reporters during an event in Seberang Perai City Council today.
He said Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) will regularly send water tankers to refill the water tanks in all hospitals including private hospitals, government health clinics and all private and public dialysis centres.
Meanwhile, all government dental clinics will not be in operations during the period, from January 10 to 14.
“This is because dental clinics need running water to operate so all appointments in these clinics will be rescheduled,” he said.
PBAPP had announced the scheduled water supply disruption that will affect 590,000 consumers starting from January 10.
At least 85 per cent of the people in Penang will be affected except for those in Air Itam and Tanjung Bungah areas.
The areas affected by the water supply disruption included a majority of Seberang Perai while on the island, the areas affected are Pulau Tikus, George Town, Jelutong, Gelugor, Bukit Jambul, Relau, Bayan Lepas, Bayan Baru, Batu Maung, Teluk Kumbar and Balik Pulau.
Air Itam, Tanjung Bungah, Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang are not affected as these areas get water supply from the Air Itam Dam and Teluk Bahang Dam but water pressure may be low as the water tankers will be extracting water from these dams.
