Review billing system, PUAS told

The Star 24/9/2004 By FREDERICK FERNANDEZ

THE Selangor Mentri Besar has directed Perbadanan Urus Air Selangor (PUAS) to review its present billing system which has led to residents of medium-cost apartments being charged the same water tariff rates as residents of luxury condominiums. 

Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said he had received complaints from medium-cost apartment owners who were unhappy that PUAS had, from this year, decided to charge them RM1.20 per cubic metre instead of 75 sen per cubic metre which they used to pay. 

The apartment owners described the move as illogical and the rates exhorbitant. 

Dr Khir said the problem could have cropped up due to the lack of a proper definition of medium-cost apartments as it did not belong in the low-cost apartments or the luxury condominum categories. 

“The confusion may be due to the different interpretations of Article Two of the state Water Supply Enactment which stipulates that water rates for multi-storey flats and apartments without facilities is 70 sen per cubic metre,” he said. 

Article Three of the enactment also states that condominiums with facilities are charged RM1.20 per cubic metre with a minimum billing of RM150 a month. 

Dr Khir said there appeared to be an anomaly for an owner of a medium-cost apartment costing between RM75,000 and RM100,000 to pay higher water tariff rates than those who owned bungalows costing RM500,000. 

“We will thus inform PUAS to review the criteria they use to lump medium-cost apartments as part of luxury condominiums,” said Dr Khir. 

Some owners who were unhappy with the move by PUAS have confronted their apartment’s management corporations and refused to settle their water bills.  

They said it was absurd for medium-cost apartment owners to pay water bills more than RM150 a month, much higher than the rates paid by bungalow home owners. 

Asked why the price of a property was not taken as a factor when determining water rates for certain category of households, Dr Khir said PUAS focused more on the costs involved in supplying the water to a particular household and the earning capability of such residents. 

“The price of water supply for condominiums is definitely higher than those on landed properties because it involves the use of additional pumps to ensure water gets to the highest floor,” he said. 

The mentri besar said this in response to a reader’s letter published in Star Metro Mail on Sept 20. The reader said the move by PUAS to lump medium-cost apartments in the luxury apartments category for the purpose of determining water charges was inappropriate.