Malaysia's Johor Sends Request To Singapore To Allow Cloud Seeding In Its Airspace

JOHOR BAHARU (Johor, Malaysia), July 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia's southern state Johor government has submitted a request to the Singapore government to allow it to conduct cloud seeding operations in the airspace over the local areas of Sungai Lebam and Upper Layang dams, here. State Public Works, and Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman, Hasni Mohammad said the state government had written to the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) on Sunday to obtain the republic's consent. "Following the response from Singapore that it was willing to consider the request of the state government for the cloud seeding, the state government has now written to the DCA. "If you follow the normal process, an agreement can be reached within two weeks, but I hope our neighbour will give its consent very soon," he told reporters here, Monday. Hasni said cloud seeding efforts over the two dams which provided water to the Johor Baharu district and parts of Kota Tinggi (district) were crucial as both dams had reached the critical level. At present, water in the Sungai Lebam dam is at 9.72 metres while at Upper Layang, it is 19.43 metres. "We cannot miss this opportunity (for cloud seeding) and it is better if it is done immediately. The scheduled water supply to 160,000 consumers will begin in 14 days if rain still does not fall into Sungai Lebam," he said. --BERNAMA