The Indah Water consortium that took responsibility to manage sewage disposal and management was introduced a few years ago under the direction of our former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

At that time not many protested for fear of going against the PM or many did not understand the implications of such a project.

Ever since then, our citizens were forced to accept this as part of their responsibility. Now it is our duty to point out that the sewage disposal is an inherent responsibility of the government itself and not that of households.

It must be borne in mind that when a consumer pays for a certain service, it must be absolutely transparent, reasonable and he must be a direct recipient of the goods and services. Otherwise it is akin to someone proposing to sell a certain item to ensure vegetables and meat sold at the market are clean.

But when the potential buyer demands to see this item, he is told that he won’t receive anything but it will ensure that the vegetables and meat which he intends to buy will be clean.. Obviously, nobody can be forced into this kind of a sale as it is deemed as a scam.

Now, if sewage disposal is to be paid by the households which he does not see nor is a direct beneficiary of the service then he or she should never be forced to pay. This probably becomes an unseen expenditure which, if necessary, should be the total responsibility of the government whether state or federal.

As far as the household is concerned, he pays for the assessment charges which should cover all unseen expenses.Water is used to flush the waste in the toilets at the home or office. This water is paid for by the consumer as part of the water bill.

The cost paid by the households towards water used in toilet flushing should be directly used to pay for sewage. This is the right thing to do.

As it stands at present, this Indah Water billing seem to be an absolute and a ridiculous cost imposed on households. It contravenes our very basic consumer rights as is expressed in the Consumer Protection Act.

At this rate, every other cost around our neighbourhood will be billed to the households. This includes the street lights, road works at our frontages, the rubbish collection, the neighbourhood padang and roadside grass cutting, the fogging by the municipalities, road signage and an endless list of other expenditures. It can never end and human suffering will continue to exacerbate.

May I now call upon the Selangor government to take a close look at this and end this ridiculous charade which contravenes consumer rights.