KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Works Ministry has taken the initiative to fully stabilise the water supply in the Kota Kinabalu area, said Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
"The initiative has been actively implemented, and the overall water supply in the Kota Kinabalu district has been successfully stabilised since the third quarter of 2023.
"However, water supply disruptions are sometimes unavoidable due to maintenance works at the water treatment plant and the distribution system, whether scheduled or emergency," said Shahelmey, who is also the state Works Minister.
He made these comments in response to a rally campaign named #KamiMahuAir Sabah, planned for June 14 in front of Menara Kinabalu, the main administration building for the Sabah government, as announced on the Suara Mahasiswa UMS Facebook page.
He added that the state Water Department is also dealing with water supply disruptions caused by illegal pipe connections by slum dwellers, which sometimes result in water supply disruptions to UMS and its surroundings.
"However, this problem has been and will continue to be addressed, particularly through enforcement actions."
"As an immediate action, the state Water Department will introduce a vendor system in the near future to supply water to slum dwellers, in line with the state cabinet's recent decision.
"This initiative will enable control and monitoring of water use by residents in the concerned areas."
The initiative to stabilise the water supply in the Kota Kinabalu area includes increasing the water supply capacity from the Telibong 2 Phase 2 Water Treatment Plant (LRA) by 15-20 MLD per day, he said.
This has significantly impacted the water supply in the northern area of Kota Kinabalu, he added.
The completed water treatment plant has a capacity of 80 MLD and will fully supply this capacity to the Kota Kinabalu area as soon as the pipeline along the Pan Borneo Highway work package eight is completed early next year, he said.
At the same time, Shahelmey said that the Sabah Works Ministry, together with the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry and Economy Ministry, are in the final process of finalising the implementation method for projects under the RM300 million allocation package for the Sabah water supply system, which is expected to start this year.
"The scope of this project is to reduce supply disruptions, stabilise water pressure, solve connection problems that do not follow regulations, upgrade and repair pump assets, and increase the capacity of water treatment plants in the Kota Kinabalu district.
"The scope of this project also involves the districts of Papar, Keningau, Lahad Datu, and Tawau."