Founded 15 years ago with only a handful of employees, Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad (Puncak Niaga) has today emerged as one of the leading water and wastewater solution companies in the region, with more than 5,000 full-time employees. Headquartered in Shah Alam, capital of State of Selangor, about 35km from Kuala Lumpur, Puncak Niaga Group ensures that the population of 7.5m people in the State of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and the federal government’s administrative centre of Putrajaya receive an uninterrupted supply of safe affordable treated drinking water.
Listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange since 1997, Puncak Niaga is the nation’s largest water supply concessionaire, operating, managing and maintaining 29 water treatment plants with a total average production capacity of 1,930m litres per day.
During Malaysia’s water crisis in 1998, Puncak Niaga was entrusted by the government to finance, design and construct the Wangsa Maju Water Treatment Plant at a cost of $38.6m. This water treatment plant was completed in a record time of six months.
The water distribution system in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya was in a dire state for many years, leaving the state and federal government without choice other than to embark on a privatisation scheme. Puncak Niaga’s excellent track record in carrying out water projects fits the bill. It was then in late 2004, Puncak Niaga’s subsidiary, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SYABAS) was granted a concession for a period of 30 years, commencing January 1, 2005 whereby SYABAS had assumed all duties and functions of the state government in the area of water supply and distribution of water to the consumers within the State of Selangor and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. This is the largest privatisation scheme for water supply system in Malaysia.
Apart from treating and supplying water, Puncak Niaga also manages and operates three dams: Sg Langat, Tasik Subang and Klang Gate Dams, all situated in the State of Selangor.
Puncak Niaga’s foray into the regional water and wastewater industry began with Chennai Water Supply Augmentation Project in Chennai India in 2005, and was awarded for O&M service for five years. Puncak Niaga also has via a joint-venture with Singapore based company, Environmental Holding Pte Ltd (EHPL) for the water and wastewater concession projects in China.
As highlighted by Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, Puncak Niaga’s quest for foreign projects does not mean that the company is exiting the Malaysian market. In fact Puncak Niaga is actively participating in tenders for local water projects including water treatment and supply operator for many states in Malaysia. One of Puncak Niaga’s advantages in bidding for new projects locally and overseas is lower project cost through its homegrown expertise.
Moving forward, Puncak Niaga is eyeing the possibilities of diversifying from its core water and wastewater, into the oil and gas industry.
Transforming the system
In the past five years, Puncak Niaga has relentlessly improved and upgraded the water distribution system in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. In addition to the application of new engineering and technology services, its 100 percent owned subsidiary, SYABAS established the state-of-the-art 24-hour customer service centre, PUSPEL.
This award-winning customer service centre has enabled Puncak Niaga Group to revitalise the water services industry in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, within a period of three years after SYABAS assumed the entire responsibilities from the Selangor state government. Today, the water services industry has improved with the public giving full cooperation reporting cases leading to interruptions.
River pollution
The improvements made to water treatment and the supply system does not mean that the industry is on track for smooth growth. Challenges remain enormous. One of which is the continuous pollution of raw water resources and destruction of water catchments areas in the developed areas of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Puncak Niaga has taken proactive measures in setting up its own Water Resources and Environmental Surveillance Unit (WRES) which works in close collaboration with the Department of Environment and other agencies in mitigating pollution issues which have direct impact on the operation of Water Treatment Plants (WTP).
Puncak Niaga has also collaborated with one of the world’s leading R&D institutions, DHI Water Environment Health of Denmark (DHI) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), one of Malaysia’s leading universities for human capital development, training and other activities.
Water king
On its expansion trail, Puncak Niaga has the advantage over its competitors with its strength in technology, lower construction and maintenance costs, as well as efficient after sales service. All these can only be accomplished with skills, expertise and commitment, engineered by its founder, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, Malaysia’s headline marker for water industry. The water tariff in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya is one of the lowest among major Asian cities, and water consumption is about 240 litres per day, a whopping fivefold of the UN’s requirement of 50 litres per day. Notwithstanding the above, Puncak Niaga Group should be lauded for its efforts in bringing the water industry to a higher level, at par with developed nations. All these were made possible thanks to the visionary stewardship of Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, the founder and Executive Chairman of Puncak Niaga Group.
Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is Malaysia’s “Water King” where he has, for 15 years, worked hard in revitalising the water services industry. With his experience involving various companies, dedication and commitment, he was entrusted by the state government of Selangor to manage water treatment plants, and also the water distribution systems through SYABAS. Today, Puncak Niaga is not only the top in Malaysia, but also ranked as 25th world leading water and wastewater companies by Global Water Intelligence magazine.
Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is also a strong advocate of environmental protection where his corporate social responsibility programs include the River Rescue Brigade, instilling awareness among school children on the importance of conservation of rivers for both upstream and downstream. His sensitivity towards environment is also shared through his articles in local and international media. Apart from that, he has been lending strong supports for events on sustainable environment and water resources.
In addition, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is the President of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Water Association (SWAn), where SWAn has played a major role in promoting issues pertaining to sustainability of the environment, covering the Asia Pacific region.
He has also been appointed by His Royal Highness, the King of Malaysia, as Colonel, Regiment 60 Water Management Specialist to ensure the tools and basic equipment are in perfect condition and functioning in times of emergencies or whenever needed in any mission.
Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is also known for his personal contribution to community development programs and he is a committee member of FELDA Community Social Development, Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia, a Trustee of Perdana Leadership Foundation, Yayasan WAQAF Malaysia (YMM) and Secretariat of Malaysia Prihatin, to name a few.
He is instrumental in championing management excellence and best practices for water, wastewater and environmental sectors and is the Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). As a business community leader, he is the President of the Malay Chamber of Commerce for the State of Selangor Chapter (DPMMS), Advisor of Malay Student Association of Peninsular Malaysia (GPMS), and Governor for Malaysia of Asia Pacific Marketing Federation (APMF) Foundation.
Tan Sri Rozali Ismail has been conferred with stacks of awards and is among the prominent few to have received the Fellowship Award by the Institute of Marketing Malaysia, Asia Water Management Excellence Award, and recently the Recipient of Vocational Excellence Service Award 2009, Induction as Honorary Rotarian and Conferment of the Paul Harris Fellow Award by Rotary International Malaysia.
For more information tel: +603-5522-8589; email: investors@puncakniaga.com.my; www.puncakniaga.com.my
