Article: Mengkuang Dam expansion reinstated in Ninth Malaysia Plan

Tuesday July 21, 2009

By DERRICK VINESH

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Penangites can heave a sigh of relief as the shelved RM1.2bil Mengkuang Dam expansion project has been reinstated in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said the project was expected to begin as early as this October and be completed by 2013.

"It will proceed once all necessary tender and documentation processes are sorted out in the next three months," he said after visiting the dam here yesterday.

Chin said the project, which would be carried out in two phases, was vital to increase the state's water capacity, which was approaching a critical stage.

He added that the expansion would increase the dam's capacity from 23 million cubic metres now to 78 million cubic metres, which would be able to meet the state's water needs until 2020.

It's back on: Chin (third from right) and Penang Water Authorities general manager Jaseni Maidinsa (second from right) visiting the Mengkuang Dam in Bukit Mertajam Monday.

"The Federal Government felt it was necessary to carry out this project with the co-operation of the state, especially the Penang Water Supply Corporation Sdn Bhd," he said.

Chin said the first phase would cover the principal work to widen and increase the dam's height, while the second phase involved the construction of a 13km-long dual-flow steel pipe between the dam and the Sungai Dua water treatment plant.

He said raw water from the Muda River would be pumped into the dam for storage via the pipe, at about 440 million litres a day, during the rainy season between April and December.

Chin added that raw water from the dam would be pumped through the pipe at a maximum capacity of 1.114bil litres a day, back to the Sungai Dua treatment plant during the drought from January to March to make up for the low water supply from the Muda River.

He said an additional 9km-long perimeter road would be built around the dam, similar to the one at the Air Itam Dam, for public recreation.

Last August, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the state would face a water crisis by 2012 if the Mengkuang Dam expansion project did not start by this year.

The dam's expansion was among three mega projects in Penang worth a total of RM4.7bil shelved during the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan in June last year because of the global economic slowdown.

The other two projects were the RM1.5bil Penang Outer Ring Road and the RM2bil Penang monorail.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Nation 21 July 2009