Compliance For Septic Tank Desludging In Perlis Critically Low - SPAN

KANGAR, May 20 (Bernama) -- The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) revealed that 8,520 septic tank desludging notices were issued to domestic premise owners in Perlis throughout last year, yet public compliance remains critically low.

SPAN Operations Division Enforcement Section Director, Ainal Yusman Mohamad Yusop, said that out of that total, only 302 domestic owners - or approximately 3.5 percent - carried out the septic tank emptying works.

"Even though Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) has been actively running engagement programmes with residents, village chiefs, State Executive Councillors, elected representatives, and non-governmental organisations, public awareness is still very low," he said during a press conference after leading a Surprise Enforcement Operation (Ops Haruman) here today.

The three-day operation, which began yesterday, involved inspections of 205 premises around Kangar, consisting of 74 commercial premises and 131 domestic premises identified as having failed to carry out scheduled septic tank desludging.

Ainal Yusman noted that there were even homeowners who admitted they had never once emptied their septic tanks since moving into their homes back in the 1980s.

He explained that many people assume their sewerage system is fine as long as the toilet is not clogged, failing to realise that an unmaintained septic tank can lose its ability to treat wastewater.

"As a result, untreated wastewater can overflow into drains, pollute water sources, emit foul odors, and cause a nuisance to neighbours," he said.

Meanwhile, for the commercial category, Ainal Yusman said that only 22 premises—or 1.8 percent of the 1,209 notices issued last year - carried out the desludging process for their respective septic tanks.

According to him, under Regulation 2(1) of the Water Services Industry (Desludging Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, septic tank desludging must be done once every two years for premises located within local authority (PBT) areas, and once every three years for premises outside local authority areas.

He warned that septic tank owners who fail to maintain their sewerage system and do not appoint a licensee or permit holder to carry out desludging works can face action under Section 65(1)(c) of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655).

"Upon conviction, premise owners can be fined not exceeding RM50,000," he said.

He added that a total of 20,063 individual septic tanks have been recorded in Perlis to date, while more than 1.38 million individual septic tanks were recorded across Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan as of last year.

-- BERNAMA