The state of Selangor has come forward to fulfill its election promise of giving each household free water, at least the first 20 cubic meters of usage. The estimated cost of this is purported to be RM 17 million per month. What is important to note is that the Rm17 million is really taxpayers money, so it is not free.

How do I equate free water and bribery? I equate this to bribery simply because it was a promise made to secure votes as opposed to a policy issue to drive change. A political freebie using taxpayers money.

While the underlying motive is probably to lessen peoples financial burden, but if that is the case, there are more effective ways of distributing RM17 million a month, especially if it is going to be in perpetuity.

My position is that, whatever policy decisions governments make, it must be done to shape desired behavior. In this specific example, the state government could have mandated the 17 million to reward consumers who significantly use less water than previously. They  would then get a rebate on their water usage. Or water usage targets can be introduced, and every household that is within the target usage will be rewarded with a rebate. The long term goal should be towards conservation of water and at the same time provides financial relief.