Amendments to the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655) aim to strengthen the regulation of the water services sector, enabling more effective responses to critical issues, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Tabling the Water Services Industry (Amendment) Bill 2024 for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Dec 12), Fadillah, who also serves as the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, highlighted that the primary goal of the amendments is to tackle frequent incidents of water source contamination, which disrupt supply and inconvenience users.
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Tabling the Water Services Industry (Amendment) Bill 2024 for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Dec 12), Fadillah, who also serves as the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, highlighted that the primary goal of the amendments is to tackle frequent incidents of water source contamination, which disrupt supply and inconvenience users.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Industry of Water Supply 2006, also known as Art. 655, was strengthened on 1 January 2008
00:11as an effort to strengthen the Water Supply and Development Services Area.
00:16This article, which consists of 13 parts and 193 sections,
00:21sets the core of the Water Supply and Development Services Area
00:26which aims to create a robust state-of-the-art water supply industry
00:31that is advanced and sustainable in the long term.
00:35After more than 18 years of Art. 655,
00:39several areas of improvement have been ensured,
00:42including changes to existing requirements and implementation of new foundations.
00:48This step is important to ensure that this article remains relevant,
00:52consistent with the development of the time
00:55and is an effort to meet the needs of the future of the state water supply industry.
01:00The process of changing the article began in 2012,
01:05in which the provision of changes has been accepted in the form of
01:09the Water Supply and Development Services Area, or SPAN,
01:12the license holder, industrial planners and users,
01:16as well as through the process of research and improvement from time to time.
01:21Several consultations with the state government have also been held
01:25to clarify the changes involved and get their feedback.
01:30In accordance with the reorganization of the functions of the Ministry on 12 December 2023,
01:36the proposed changes have been revised now by taking into account the functions of the Water Supply and Development Services
01:42which are now placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy and Water Transformation, or PETRA.
01:49Mr. Speaker,
01:51since recently, the incident of water source pollution has often occurred
01:55and caused water supply disruptions, which subsequently caused difficulties for users.
02:02The Ministry considers this serious incident as one of the main challenges
02:07that must be faced in ensuring a sustainable and sustainable development.
02:12The Ministry is committed to implementing this development
02:15in order to move forward with the Article 655,
02:18as one of the initiatives to address this issue.
02:22The amendment to this article is carried out
02:25by giving emphasis to the 13 provisions
02:28involving the existing sections,
02:31and the main focus of the amendment is on the elements of the weighting of the law
02:35and the implementation of new violations.
02:38In addition, other elements involved in the amendment are
02:41in the aspect of tax compensation.
02:44Mr. Speaker,
02:45I would like to discuss the main section and the weighting of the law,
02:48which includes 13 sections as follows.
02:52The first is Section 1,
02:54which involves a brief title as an article that has been amended
02:57and the power of the Minister to establish the start of the power of attorney,
03:01the proposed article.
03:03This article will be named as the Article of the Water Supply Industry Amendment 2024
03:09and will begin the power of attorney on the date set by the Minister
03:13through the information provided in the article.
03:17The second is Section 3,
03:19which aims to move forward with Section 61 of the Article 655
03:23to clarify that the violations in this section
03:26are related to the prohibition of the release of any prohibited affluent
03:32or things that are hazardous to the developer
03:35and the place of maintenance of assets
03:37in accordance with the definition of the developer
03:40and the place of maintenance of assets in the article.
03:43In addition, this article aims to introduce a new section,
03:46namely Section 1A,
03:48in this section to prohibit the release of prohibited affluent
03:52and other things into the septic tank
03:55and to raise the penalty for violations under Sections 61-1 and 1A
04:02as a preventive measure.
04:06This is because the release of things that are prohibited
04:08into the development system and the septic tank
04:11can cause risks,
04:13such as the damage to the serious development system and the septic tank,
04:17the pollution of water resources,
04:19and furthermore, the disturbance of water supplies.
04:21Third, Section 6 aims to move forward with Section 121
04:27to make it a crime
04:29if anyone pollutes the water resources
04:32which causes a temporary suspension
04:35or the closure of the water supply system.
04:38Through this move,
04:40the penalty is also raised as one of the preventive measures
04:44since the pollution of the water supply system
04:46will affect a large number of users.
04:49A new subsection is also introduced
04:52to allow the court to govern
04:55anyone who is placed under Section 121-1 or 1A
05:02to pay a cost to restore the water supply system
05:05that has been affected by the pollution committed by that person.
05:10One of the reasons for this move
05:12is because the pollution of water resources
05:14can affect daily activities
05:16and the business of users,
05:19thereby having a great impact on the country's economy.
05:22The cost of restoring the water supply system is very high
05:25and it poses a danger to human health.
05:28Fourth, Section 7 aims to move forward with Section 122-1
05:34to make it a crime
05:36if anyone pollutes the water resources
05:38which causes a temporary suspension
05:40or the closure of the water supply system.
05:44Through this move, the penalty is also raised as one of the preventive measures
05:48since the pollution of the water supply system
05:50and the closure of the water supply system
05:52can be prevented.
05:56This move also involves an increase in the sentence
05:59as well as the term of the sentence
06:01in order to be fair.
06:03This takes into account several cases
06:05under investigation by the SPAN
06:07which have caused serious inconvenience to users.
06:11Fifth, Section 8 aims to move forward with Section 123-3
06:17to raise the penalty for the crime
06:20of polluting the water supply system
06:22which violates the law.
06:24The purpose of this move is as a form of resistance
06:27against the case of water theft
06:29given that there are an average of 100 cases of water theft
06:32reported by the SPAN
06:34by license holders every year
06:36to act as a force.
06:39Sixth, Section 2, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 13
06:44aims to move forward with Section 2,
06:46Section 86-1,
06:48Section 110-7-B
06:53and Section 110-8,
06:56Section 165-1,
06:59Section 173-1
07:02and Section 180-A-4
07:07or 655.
07:10The purpose of this move is
07:12to correct the errors in the text of the National Language
07:17to be in line with the English text.
07:21Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
07:24Overall, the move of Section 655
07:28will strengthen the water supply industry
07:32and also allow critical issues
07:35related to the country's water supply
07:38to be addressed immediately.
07:40This move will also make this act more relevant
07:43to the needs of the time
07:45and strive to meet the needs of the country in the future.