JOHOR TO BUILD TWO LRAS WORTH RM184 MILLION TO BOOST TREATED WATER SUPPLY - EXCO

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The Johor government is developing two new water treatment plants (LRAs) worth RM184 million to meet the rising demand for treated water across the state.

State Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the projects include the Semanggar LRA package valued at RM70 million, with a capacity of 50 million litres per day (MLD). The plant is expected to be completed next year and will supply water to the Kulai and Sedenak areas.

He said that the Layang 2 LRA Phase 2 project, valued at RM114 million and designed with a capacity of 160 million litres per day (MLD), is expected to be completed in 2027 and will supply water to the Johor Bahru and Iskandar Puteri areas.

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“There are also two additional LRA projects - Semanggar 3 LRA and Kayu Ara Pasong LRA - costing RM750 million and RM537 million respectively, which are currently at the conceptual and detailed design stages. These projects, with a combined capacity of 290 MLD, will serve the Johor Bahru, Kulai and Pontian areas,” he said.

He said this in his reply to a question from Datuk Jefridin Atan (BN-Kukup) regarding the status of the new LRA projects and assurances of a clean water supply until 2030 during the state assembly sitting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail here today.

Mohamad Fazli said that for the Kayu Ara Pasong LRA, the original capacity proposed by Ranhill SAJ was 30 MLD. However, with the implementation of the Sungai Pontian Besar Riverside Water Reservoir (TAPS), which has a capacity of 90 MLD, the state government has proposed increasing the LRA’s capacity to 90 MLD.

“Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB) has proposed that the LRA be constructed first with a capacity of 30 MLD at a cost of RM191 million, with the remaining 60 MLD to be implemented in Phase 2. The entire project is expected to benefit 46,119 consumer accounts in the Pontian district,” he said.

He said the demand for treated water in Johor is expected to continue rising, driven by industrial expansion, population growth and major strategic developments, including the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) and the rapid development of data centres.

Johor currently operates 48 LRAs with a total design capacity of 2,352 MLD, he said, adding that the average production in 2025 stands at 2,037 MLD. Projections indicate water demand will increase to 2,700 MLD by 2030, 3,000 MLD by 2035, and 3,300 MLD by 2040.

Apart from developing new LRAs, a rezoning project worth RM1.02 billion is also underway to enhance the efficiency of the treated water distribution system in Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi, Pontian and Kulai.

The initiative comprises four main packages, including upgrading works to the distribution networks in Pasir Gudang, Kempas Banjaran, Impian Emas, Johor Jaya and Sutera Utama. It will also involve the installation of new pipelines from the Semangar LRA to the Bukit Kulai reservoir, as well as from Masai to U4.

-- BERNAMA