Management issues of water in Malaysia.
Lack of future water supply management: The water management system in Malaysia is designed in such a way that the supply system of the water only provides sufficient amount of water for the the demand. With regards to the long run sustainability eventually the demand will take over the supply to a point where there will be no more water left to keep up with its high demand. The costs for water treatment facilities to be produced according to the demand immediately is too expensive and it would also be quite time consuming. During that period there would be a lack of water due to this bad management of resources (WWF Malaysia, 2014).
Institutional issues: Several agencies have jurisdiction over different parts of the water management system. According to the World Wildlife Federation (2014), this can cause conflicting interests and goals which are damaging to the management as a whole though this can be solved easily with the help of a central agency.
High rates of water wastage: The World Wildlife Federation (2014) states that statistically, Malaysia has one of the highest water wastage rates in the word with regards to the agriculture, domestic and industrial sector.
High rates of Non-revenue Water: 40% of treated water is lost through leakages before it even reaches the people. Due to this reason, there is a need for a lot of dams which proves to be a waste of resources. The 40% of water that is lost can be easily reduced with the help of proper maintenance checks and repairs of the specific parts (WWF Malaysia, 2014).
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Privatisation of the water sector: The government is currently planning on privatizing the water supply in each state. Due to the lack of transparency and accountability shown in past cases, this can be a bad decision by the higher level management (WWF Malaysia, 2014).
Legislation: The current laws relating to water are not updated to suit the modern times.The government has taken steps to improve this with their Water Industry Service Act and their National Water Services Commissions Act but these are not enough to help the distribution and treatment of the water supply (WWF Malaysia, 2014).
Water pollution: There is a considerably low amount of clean water in Malaysia. This amount of water is not sufficient for the whole population and its demand. The cost of treating polluted water is too expensive and the process takes too much time. Hence, this is not a feasible solution (WWF Malaysia, 2014).
Low water rates: The World Wildlife Federation (2014) says that Malaysia is a country that has one of the lowest water rates in the world. This causes the people to overuse the water for their own needs because they do not value its importance.
Inefficient agricultural water use: Around 70% of Malaysia's total water consumption is used for agricultural purposes. Unfortunately, the irrigation systems are only around a 50% efficiency rate. In addition to that, irrigation water is not recycled.
References
Adams, M. (2014). 'Organic' from China exposed: The shocking truth about 'organic' foods grown in the world's worst environmental cesspool. [online] NaturalNews. Available at: http://www.naturalnews.com/039195_organic_foods_china_pollution_nightmare.html# [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
Lowflo.ie, (2014). Leak Detection - Lowflo.ie. [online] Available at: http://www.lowflo.ie/ [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
Malaysiakini.com, (2010). Henti program Tabung Budi atau hilang lesen air. [online] Available at: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/148967 [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
Mid-day.com, (2013). Mumbaikars celebrate Holi with gusto. [online] Available at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbaikars-celebrate-holi-with-gusto/206046 [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
Shiva, V. (2014). Water is Life - Water Privatization Conflicts. [online] Academic.evergreen.edu. Available at: http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/vanovedr/ [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
WWF Malaysia, (2014). Issues. [online] Available at: http://www.wwf.org.my/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater_main/freshwater_sustainable_water_use/projects_sustainability_of_malaysia_s_water_resources_utilisation/smwru_issues/ [Accessed 29 May. 2014].
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