By Suhaila Shahrul Annuar
SHAH ALAM, March 26 — The Raw Water Security Scheme (SJAM) is among the Selangor government’s most significant feats in tackling water pollution and management.
Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the project was developed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of water resource management by centring more effective pollution prevention methods.
He added that SJAM involves the development of a network of catchment pools, hi-tech monitoring systems, and the use of new channels.
“We handle (the issue of insufficient raw water) with the Hybrid of River Augmentation System (Horas) that was started in 2012. Water reserves (under Horas) can last six to nine months.
“The SJAM was started in 2020 and completed in 2024. If there is polluted water, we will extract it from the treatment plant via a new channel to the sea.
“We will also pump water from pools into the water treatment plant (WTP), which lasts four to five days. Usually, we can manage pollution in 48 hours at most, with water reserves of up to two to three weeks, to prevent a halt to WTP operations,” he said on the Dialog TVS programme last night.
He added that sustainability is his administration’s priority when formulating policies.
“In the Second Selangor Plan, to be tabled next year, sustainability is still prioritised.
“The area of permanent forest reserves (in the state) is at 31 per cent, more than the national rate of 30 per cent,” Amirudin said.
Introduced in the 2021 Selangor State Budget, the SJAM aims to handle river pollution incidents and the lack of raw water, which involves 24-hour patrols and proactive monitoring by the Selangor Water Management Authority’s fast-response team.
