GEORGE TOWN: The Federal government is collaborating with the Penang government and the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) to carry out four additional major water supply projects for the state. PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan revealed that these projects were discussed at a meeting chaired by Sulaiman Kamisan, the director of the Water Supply Division (BBA) of the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), in Putrajaya last month.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, State Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari led the state government delegation and PBAPP at the meeting. One of the four proposed projects includes the 400 million litres of water per day (MLD) Lahar Yooi Pump House Project, which aims to facilitate faster refilling of the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD). Other projects on the agenda are the 440 MLD dual-purpose pipeline from the EMD to the Sungai Dua Canal and the off-river storage schemes, or Takungan Air Pinggira
n Sungai (TAPS), in Sungai Dua and Sungai Muda.
Pathmanathan elaborated that the 440 MLD Lahar Yooi Pump House, part of Phase 2 of the Mengkuang Dam Expansion Project (MDEP), will pump an additional 440 MLD of raw water from Sungai Muda to efficiently refill the 86.4 billion-litre capacity EMD during the wet season. This initiative supports PBAPP’s strategy to transform the EMD from a strategic drought reserve to a daily-use dam once the new 114 MLD Mengkuang Dam Water Treatment Plant (LRA) is completed next year.
The BBA has approved the federal project to construct the Lahar Yooi Pump House, which will be financed using the remaining funds from the RM1.2 billion MDEP budget. Furthermore, federal assistance is being sought for a new 440 MLD dual-purpose pipeline from the EMD to the Sungai Dua Canal, which is expected to bolster the operations of the proposed pump house.
Pathmanathan also mentioned that the pipeline would enable channeling of an additional 440 MLD of raw water to the dam during wet seasons
and provide 440 MLD of water from the EMD to the Sungai Dua Canal for use at the Sungai Dua LRA during emergencies. The maximum drawdown capacity from the EMD is anticipated to increase from 600 MLD to 1,040 MLD once the pipeline becomes operational.
The other two proposed projects, Sungai Kerian TAPS and Sungai Muda TAPS, are mini-dam ventures planned for development near the riverbanks of Sungai Muda in Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) and Sungai Kerian in Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS). These projects aim to store excess raw water from the rivers to support water supply for 24 to 48 hours during droughts or emergencies, with the ability to refill from the rivers afterward.
Pathmanathan emphasized that these projects would serve as insurance measures to ensure continuous water supply in SPU and SPS, with federal funding sought under the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026-2030). Once implemented, these projects will secure a stable and continuous water supply for Penang, in conjunction with the ongoing RM1.184 billion Water
Contingency Plan 2030 (WCP 2030) and the RM4.5 billion Perak-Penang Water Project. The PBAPP will also continue executing the remaining six out of eight WCP 2030 projects as planned.