Consumers Affected By Disruption Forced To Rely On Bottled Water

TELUK INTAN, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Residents affected by the water supply disruption here since last week have been forced to rely on bottled water for their daily needs.

A Bernama survey in Teluk Intan today revealed that those impacted have turned to purchasing bottled water to manage their daily activities while waiting for the supply to be fully restored.

Noor Imanina Atiqah Abdullah, 30, from Taman Banjar Indah, said her family had been buying bottled water for cooking and drinking.

"It’s really hard to find bottled water in this area now because everyone in Taman Banjar Indah has stocked up, and the shelves are empty.

"Last night, LAP (Lembaga Air Perak) resumed supply for five hours, allowing residents to store enough water, but this morning, there was no water.

“We used the water to bathe and wash. But for cooking, we had to buy bottled water," she told Bernama, adding that she had to buy it from Pasir Bedamar and other areas.

Another resident, Mohd Fauzi Ibrahim, 48, from Chenderong Balai, shared that he had to buy bottled water due to the lack of other options and insufficient supply for his family.

"Many people are buying bottled water in Teluk Intan town. I’ve noticed that most are buying large quantities from wholesalers. Twelve 1.5-litre bottles for RM9, compared to the regular price of RM13 or more.

"Today, I bought over 10 cartons of bottled water from the wholesaler. Some villagers asked me to help buy water for them too. It's been really difficult to find clean water," he said.

He hoped that the disruption would be resolved quickly to ease the burden on consumers, especially the elderly and those with limited means.

Meanwhile, wholesaler Tan Hoi Leong, 62, said that people started buying bottled water due to the water supply disruption in the Hilir Perak district.

"My shop’s been packed with people. I’m selling at the usual price and haven’t set any limits on how much each customer can buy. Today, we got eight pallets, which is more than usual. Each pallet has 672 bottles of 1.5 litres," he said.

He added that over the past week, he has sold more than 10 pallets with customers coming from as far as Tapah and Bidor. 

Earlier, the Southern Region LAP announced that water supply had been temporarily restored since 8 pm yesterday in several areas of Hilir Perak, which had been experiencing disruptions for the past week.

On Monday, the State Infrastructure, Energy, Water, and Public Transportation Committee chairman, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, said that the water supply disruption affecting 50,000 accounts in parts of Batang Padang and Hilir Perak since Feb 6 was expected to be gradually restored starting on Tuesday.

Mohammad Nizar explained that the disruption was caused by a leak in an underground pipeline owned by LAP, which supplies raw water to the Bukit Temoh Water Treatment Plant near Taman Bunga Raya, Tapah.

-- BERNAMA