There is no need to construct dams in Selangor and Pahang to supply water for the Klang Valley as the present water supply is sufficient, said an environmental group today.

The Save Our Sungai Selangor (SOS Selangor) movement said the government should instead impose a moratorium on all dam buildings.

"The government must show good standards of governance and stop constructions of dams until it can ascertain that the dams are really necessary," said the movement's spokesperson, Sam Hui.

Hui said that the predicted water demand for the Klang Valley at the start of this year was 3,000 million litres of water per day and the real water demand in February was only 2,670 million litres.

He added that the bulk of the extra water supply is non-revenue supply due to leakage, pilferage, hydrant use and other sources.

The government had approved the constructions of dams at Sungai Selangor and at Sungai Kelau in Pahang despite objections from environmental groups and concerned citizens. There is also a plan to pipe water from Pahang to Selangor's Klang Valley.

The government said that two dams are being build because it has been projected that by the year 2003 there would be a critical shortage of water supply in Selangor and the Federal Territory.

The environmentalists argued that the building of the two dams would mean the destruction of hundreds of hectares of rainforest, the eviction of the various native groups from their ancestral homelands and the destruction of the green sanctuary.

Projected shortage

Hui also said that a report published by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) late last year showed that dams do not live up to promises.

"The report stated that at average, the dams cost 56 percent more than anticipated and these over-runs are largely due to delays in constructions," said Hui.

The Sungai Selangor Dam is already nine months behind schedule, added Hui.

Meanwhile, Hui also said that a SOS-proposed workshop on the World Commission on Dams report has been postponed to June from the original date of May 27.

"This is due to travel arrangement problems for the WCD commissioner and his absence will create a significant impact on the effectiveness of the workshop," he said.