Some months after Penang's water tariff rose by 20 sen per cubic metre, former chief minister Lim Guan Eng has asked the state government to pause that increase along with planned hikes in fees and quit rent. Speaking in a statement from his seat in Air Putih, he frames the request as a test of priorities: a household budget strained by a shaky global economy, set against a water utility whose profits are climbing. Whether a government chooses to lean on its ratepayers or its utility is a question as old as public service itself, and Penang now faces it in its own kitchen.
Lim Guan Eng urges Penang to defer fee, quit rent and water tariff hikes amid cost-of-living strain
Where there is a will, there is a way
Mark
Lim isn't in the state cabinet. Why does his statement matter?
Mimi
He's a DAP assemblyman, and he's pressing a DAP-led state government on a tariff that's already in force since July 1. He names Chow Kon Yeow and Zairil Khir Johari directly.
Mark
What's the core of his argument on water?
Mimi
A comparison. PBAPP made RM49.6 million pre-tax in the first quarter of 2026, and the tariff rise is meant to bring in RM20 million a year. So he says one quarter's profit covers a full year's extra revenue.
Luke
Worth saying that the RM20 million and the profit figures are as Lim presents them. The statement doesn't say what the extra revenue is earmarked for, or whether a quarter's profit is a reliable guide to the full year.
Mimi
Fair. And it doesn't include any response from PBAPP or the state.
Mark
He also brings up a federal debt. What is that?
Mimi
He claims Penang contributed RM10.7 billion from 2023 to 2025 and got back RM7.9 billion, leaving RM2.8 billion owed.
Luke
That's his claim, and a political one. Nothing here confirms it, nor that Putrajaya would refuse a grant or loan. He only asks why it would.
Mark
And quit rent?
Mimi
He says landowners are struggling, and ties it to fuel prices and the US-Iran conflict. But there are no quit rent figures in the statement.
Luke
Right, so that part is the thinnest. The water case has numbers; the quit rent case is mostly assertion.
O Pulso
- A water tariff rise that took effect on 1 July is now under sharp challenge from the opposition's most prominent voice in Penang.
- Lim Guan Eng points to PBAPP's first-quarter pre-tax profit of RM49.6 million, more than double last year, against an expected RM20 million yearly gain from the tariff.
- Quit rent and fee increases are being pushed back into the same debate, with landowners described as already squeezed by rising fuel costs tied to the US-Iran conflict.
- Chow Kon Yeow and Zairil Khir Johari are being pressed to match the federal prime minister's deferrals and to honour their election manifesto.
- A counterclaim that Putrajaya owes Penang RM2.8 billion sits unresolved, and whether the state responds to the deferral call or to the funding dispute remains open.
Some months after Penang's water tariff rose by 20 sen per cubic metre, former chief minister Lim Guan Eng has asked the state government to pause that increase along with planned hikes in fees and quit rent. Speaking in a statement from his seat in Air Putih, he frames the request as a test of priorities: a household budget strained by a shaky global economy, set against a water utility whose profits are climbing. Whether a government chooses to lean on its ratepayers or its utility is a question as old as public service itself, and Penang now faces it in its own kitchen.
On the first of July, Penang's water tariff rose by 20 sen per cubic metre. Two months later, Lim Guan Eng, the DAP assemblyman for Air Putih and a former chief minister, has asked that the increase be put on hold, together with planned rises in fees and quit rent.
In a statement, he urged Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari to follow Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's example and defer increases that weigh on businesses and households. Many landowners, he said, are already struggling with sharply higher quit rent, while fuel prices climb amid an uncertain economic outlook. He wants all the increases deferred until the global economy steadies.
His sharpest criticism falls on the water tariff. He argues that the 20-sen rise would bring the utility PBAPP only about RM20 million a year, while burdening 1.8 million residents. The utility's own first-quarter pre-tax profit, RM49.6 million this year against RM23.1 million last year, already exceeds that annual sum, he says, so it could absorb a one-year deferral. If it truly needed cash, he suggests the state could seek a federal grant or loan, and he claims Putrajaya owes Penang RM2.8 billion.
He closed with a line about priorities: "Where there is a will, there is a way," adding that the state must put the people first rather than PBA Holdings Bhd. The figures are his own. What comes next is whether the state government answers the deferral call and how it responds to the federal funding claim.
On the first of July, the water tariff in Penang went up by 20 sen per cubic metre. Two months later, the man who once led the state government is asking that the increase be put on hold, along with other planned rises in fees and quit rent.
Lim Guan Eng, the DAP assemblyman for Air Putih, made the appeal in a statement issued on Thursday. He urged the Penang government to follow the example of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who he said had deferred increases to ease the burden on businesses and households. Lim addressed Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari directly, saying they should show the same reformist approach and political will in fulfilling the election manifesto and easing the cost of living.
Quit rent was his first example. Lim said many landowners in the state were struggling with sharply higher quit rent this year, at a time of an uncertain economic outlook and rising fuel prices that he linked to the US-Iran conflict. His proposal was that Chow defer all the increases until the global economy and its outlook become stable again.
The water tariff drew his sharpest criticism. Lim faulted Zairil for refusing to back a postponement of the 20-sen rise. By his account, the increase would bring Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang, or PBAPP, an additional RM20 million a year, while weighing on 1.8 million Penang residents.
His argument rested on the water utility's own results. Lim pointed out that PBAPP's pre-tax profit more than doubled, from RM23.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 to RM49.6 million in the same period this year. That first-quarter figure alone, he said, is already more than twice the RM20 million the tariff rise is expected to raise over a full year. On that basis, he reasoned, PBAPP should be able to absorb a one-year deferral.
He also addressed the question of what happens if the utility urgently needs the money. In that case, Lim said, the state government could seek a federal grant or loan. He questioned why Putrajaya would refuse such help, claiming the federal government owes Penang RM2.8 billion: the state contributed RM10.7 billion between 2023 and 2025, and received back only RM7.9 billion.
Lim closed with a line that framed the matter as one of priorities. "Where there is a will, there is a way," he said, adding that this holds as long as the state government keeps putting the people first rather than PBA Holdings Bhd.
The figures on profit, revenue and the federal shortfall are Lim's own, drawn from his statement. What to watch next is whether Chow's government responds to the call for deferral, and how it answers the claim about money owed by the federal government.
Citações Notáveis
Chow Kon Yeow should defer all increases until the global economy and its outlook become stable again.— Lim Guan Eng, Air Putih assemblyman
If the water tariff increase is deferred for one year, PBAPP should be able to withstand it financially.— Lim Guan Eng
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Politics & Governance