His admission contrasted sharply with his remarks early this year in response to the Consumer Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin's proposal to carry out laboratory tests on potable water supplied to Kuala Lumpur (The Star Jan 23, 2003). At that time, the Works Minister insisted that the water in the Klang Valley was safe to drink and that there had been no complaints about the water quality.

The Works Minister's complete turn-around is not unexpected as the results of tests carried out by The Consumer Affairs Ministry were reported to be unsatisfactory and that the tap water quality was found to be poor.

However, during PUAS' Customer Day held on Sept 28, Selangor State Secretary Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, when commenting on complaints by the Consumer Affairs Ministry about poor tap water quality, was reported to have said that the State's water quality had always been supervised by the Health Ministry and that the water had met the standards set.

The State Secretary's statement is ludicrous, to say the least. One wonders why in spite of frequent complaints of dirty tap water by the public to the local dailies, which have now been affirmed by the results of tests carried out by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, the State Secretary still chooses not to make a clean breast of it.

This self-denial syndrome is also prevalent among many other senior officials of the Selangor State Government and PUAS.

To dispel all doubts once and for all about the quality of potable water in the Klang Valley, it is hoped that the results of tests carried out by the Consumer Affairs Ministry would be published in our local dailies for all to see.

Note:
An edited version of the above was published in The Star on Oct 3.