Johor refutes viral claims linking water supply issues in Pontian and Simpang Renggam to data centre development, citing drought as the real cause.

JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor government has dismissed viral allegations that water supply disruptions in Pontian and Simpang Renggam are linked to data centre development.

State Work, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh described the claims as untrue and baseless slander.

He clarified that no data centres receive water supply in Simpang Renggam and Benut, adding that these areas are also not locations for such facility developments.

“The ongoing scheduled water supply disruption is due to the depleted level of the raw water source as a result of the prolonged drought before this,” he posted on Facebook.

He explained that supply for the affected areas comes from the Simpang Renggam Water Treatment Plant, which processes raw water from Sungai Ulu Benut with support from the Machap Dam.

Its maximum capacity is 64 million litres per day, however the plant cannot operate at full capacity because the raw water source level is too low.

Although it has started to rain, the river and dam water levels have yet to return to optimal levels.

The Sungai Benut intake level needs to exceed 4.90 metres for the plant to use all four pumps, but the current water level is recorded at around 4.66 metres.

This situation limits pump use and affects treated water production, therefore scheduled water supply is required to ensure fairer and more balanced distribution to users.

As an urgent mitigation measure, the state government and the National Disaster Management Agency have implemented cloud seeding operations targeting main catchment areas including the Upper Layang Dam, Pulai Dam and Machap Dam.

The goal is to increase the chances of rain and expedite the recovery of raw water levels.

 The Sun Malaysia