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BALING – Sebuah kolam air panas di Kampung Seniyek dalam kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Bayu diancam kemusnahan gara-gara banjir selut dan pasir dari sebuah projek pertanian di Gunung Inas.Penduduk mendakwa kolam dalam kawasan kebun getah itu adalah yang kedua di Baling selepas kolam air panas di pusat rekreasi Ulu Legong.Wakil penduduk, Mohd Sidek Saad, 61, berkata, telaga berusia lebih 80 tahun itu merupakan sumber minuman alternatif kepada lebih 200 penduduk kampung berkenaan.Menurutnya, kolam itu mempunyai kedalaman kira-kira dua meter dan tidak pernah surut walaupun musim kemarau. Mohd Sidek (kanan) menunjukkan tebing yang semakin terhakis dan menghampiri kawasan penduduk.”Setiap kali hujan lebat, pasir dari projek itu mengalir bersama air selut ke kampung kami. Arusnya sangat laju dan kuat.

“Kolam ini pernah tertimbus pasir daripada projek tersebut pada tahun ini, tetapi telah dicuci semula orang kampung,” katanya kepada Sinar Harian di Kampung Seniyek hari ini.Mohd Sidek berkata, kolam itu berpotensi dibangunkan sebagai produk pelancongan, namun hanya sia-sia jika tiada peranan daripada pihak kerajaan.”Orang luar masih ramai tidak tahu kewujudan kolam ini. Jika kerajaan mahu bangunkan kawasan ini sebagai pusat pelancongan, kami sangat mengalu-alukannya.”Kolam ini dipelihara penduduk sejak turun-temurun. Nenek moyang dahulu bina telaga bagi memastikan kolam ini dapat digunakan untuk generasi seterusnya,” katanya.Mohd Sidek menunjukkan salah satu mata air yang terdapat di kawasan berkenaan.Tambahnya lagi, di kampung berkenaan juga terdapat sekurang-kurangnya lima mata air berhampiran kolam itu.”Lima mata air ini tidak dibina kolam takungan, ada yang telah tertimbus pasir projek tersebut,” katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Mohd Sidek berkata, pihak berkenaan juga bertindak mengorek parit berhampiran kawasan rumah penduduk bagi tujuan mengatasi masalah banjir selut dan pasir.Bagaimanapun katanya, berlaku kesan lebih buruk apabila paras parit semakin cetek, manakala tebing terhakis kerana tiada batu raga dipasang di setiap selekoh parit.”Pihak berkaitan mengorek parit di kampung ini, tetapi pasir-pasir ditambun di tebing. Bila hujan, pasir itu menimbus semula parit dan diburukkan lagi dengan aliran pasir serta selut dari bukit.Kelihatan parit yang ditimbus pasir dan semakin melebar.”Tebing parit terus terhakis bila hujan lebat dan jaraknya sudah dekat dengan kediaman penduduk, kebun getah dan kawasan penternakan.

Dulu parit ini kecil saja, sekarang dah makin besar.”Kami harap pihak berkenaan dapat pasang batu raga secepat mungkin sebab jika dibiar, akan memberi kesan lebih buruk,” katanya.Sementara itu, Ahli Dewan Undangan (ADUN) Bayu, Abd Nasir Idris berkata, kolam itu disifatkan khazanah terbaru bagi daerah Baling.Tegasnya, pihak yang mengurus pertanian perlu prihatin dengan masalah dihadapi penduduk dengan memastikan kolam air panas itu tidak terjejas.”Pihak syarikat perlu menguruskan saliran dengan sempurna agar tidak mengalir ke kawasan penduduk dan kolam.”Saya juga berharap penduduk dapat memulihara kolam itu dengan mengekalkan keasliannya,” katanya.Abd Nasir berkata, beliau juga akan bekerjasama dengan tuan tanah, Majlis Daerah Baling dan pihak berkaitan dalam menaiktaraf kawasan berkenaan sebagai pusat pelancongan terbaru.

sumber :https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/44991/EDISI/Utara/Banjir-selut-Kolam-air-panas-terjejas

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GEORGE TOWN: Penang needs to tap a second major raw water resource urgently.

This, as Sungai Muda, the primary raw water resource for Kedah and Penang, may only be able to meet both states’ raw water needs until 2025.

Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said the state government and the corporation were seeking to commission the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme (SPRWTS) by 2025.

The finding was revealed in the independent “Masterplan Study for Potable Water Supply in Penang until Year 2050” which was commissioned by PBAPP back in 2009.

The study proposed the implementation SPRWTS to tap a second major raw water resource for Penang.

Jaseni said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, during a visit to the state last weekend, had said that the SPRWTS would be evaluated in collaboration with the public and private sectors, to be conducted through an open tender proposal.

Lim had also said the ministry’s Public Private Partnership Unit (Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta or UKAS) would carry out a detailed assessment of the project.

“Make no mistake, Penang needs the SPRWTS to ensure that it has sufficient water to realise its Vision 2030 aspirations of becoming a ‘family-focused green and smart state that inspires the nation’.

“When it is implemented, the SPRWTS will also mitigate Penang’s risks of water crises in this age of ‘climate change’ when the duration and intensity of dry weather spells are becoming more unpredictable.

“As such, it is hoped that the Federal government, through UKAS, will act promptly and decisively to initiate the implementation of the SPRWTS soon,” Jaseni said today.

He said Sungai Perak was a relatively an under-utilised Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) raw water resource, and the SPRWTS has the potential to ensure water supply sustainability in Perak and Penang until 2050.

The original specified timeline for the implementation of the SPRWTS is six years; and Year 2025 is exactly six years away.

Since 1973, Sungai Muda has served as Penang’s primary raw water resource.

Today, more than 80 per cent of Penang’s raw water is abstracted from this river.

Jaseni said in 2018, PBAPP produced 1,073 million litres per day (MLD) of treated water by abstracting raw water from Sungai Muda and other smaller raw water resources in Penang.

“Looking ahead, Penang’s water demand is projected to reach 1,483 MLD by 2030; 1,696 MLD by 2040 and 1,884 MLD by 2050.

“It is not possible for PBAPP to abstract sufficient raw water from Sungai Muda to address such future water demand.

“Moreover, Kedah is undertaking the 2,592 MLD Jeniang Water Transfer Project, ostensibly to abstract more water from Sungai Muda in the near future, upstream of PBAPP’s Lahar Tiang Intake in Penang,” he noted.

He also said that since 2011, the Penang government and PBAPP had been pursuing the implementation of the SPRWTS, not only for the benefit of Penang, but for the benefit of northern Perak as well.

However, the record showed that the previous Federal government failed to implement the SPRWTS in the period between 2012 and 2018.

SOURCE: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/08/516736/penang-needs-source-raw-water-sungai-perak-2025