SYNOPSIS

Water is a gift of God. Public water supply services sustain public health and economic development. The success of public water supply services is dependent on availability of raw water and efficiency of the services. The presence of Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel or SMART indicates excess water in Selangor. The near completion of Interstate Raw Water Transfer Tunnel from Pahang to Selangor indicates lack of water in Selangor. The presence of these two mega projects, one to cater for extreme water event that is, floods and the other to meet the increasing water demand respectively, is compatible with the findings by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 5 (IPCC AR5) for Working Group II that was published in March 2014. The conclusion stated that water scarcity is expected to be a major challenge for most of Asia due to increased water demand and lack of good water management. The water scarcity in Selangor for public water supply services is not due to physical lack of water resources but due to lack of good water management. In 2012, the Selangor State Authority stated that availability of raw water was not an issue since all the dam reservoirs were full at that time. In February 2014, water rationing was imposed in Selangor and nature was blamed that is, lack of rainfall. A day after the imposition of water rationing, the Memorandum of Understanding between Selangor State Government and Federal Government was signed that resulted in the issuance of Development Order for the construction of Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant and the associated distribution network. Good water management and the placement of water matters above profits and politics could avert public water supply crisis in Selangor.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Dr. Azuhan Bin Mohamed is a professional who cut across engineering and earth sciences. He is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (1986) and a Licentiate of the Institute of Geology Malaysia (1991). He has a degree in Civil Engineering majoring in hydraulics and hydrology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, a master degree in Hydrogeology from the School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK and doctoral degree in Civil Engineering majoring in water management from University of Birmingham, UK. He has more than 30 years of working experience in the water sector involving visible and invisible water resources as well as water services. He had worked in the public and private sectors, namely DID, EPU, MOF, PAAB, SPAN, Sime Darby, Prima Utilities and Erinco. He authored the papers that led to the restructuring of water services in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan in 2005 during his tenure in EPU, PMO. He had led a business unit in Sime Darby and the CEO of its subsidiary. Currently, he is the Deputy Director, Coastal Zone Management Division, DID Malaysia. In 1992, he was awarded the station of Certified Groundwater Professional (CGWP) by the Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers of the National Groundwater Association, USA and became the first CGWP in South-East Asia. He has authored more than 100 publications and presentations. His personal beliefs include:
•    Malaysia is not facing a water crisis but facing unsustainable development; and
•    The solution to our so call “lack of water” is under our feet.