KUCHING: The water woes in SMK Long Lama will be over today when the normal water supply is resumed.
State Public Works Department (PWD) said the installation of a new 180-metre long and eight-inch wide HDPE diversion pipe which began on Jan 23 would be completed today, thus giving the students and teachers normal water supply.
It stated that the repair works started soon after its divisional engineer in Miri received a complaint on the interruption of water supply to two blocks of buildings for teachers and students at the school on January 16.
“A burst (pipe joint dislocation) was identified along the existing eight-inch HDPE pipe which was attributed to the erosion along the river bank. Attempts to repair (the burst pipe) on Jan 17 by Miri PWD failed, due to site constraint as the pipe is located about three metres below the ground.
“Apart from that, water tankers were immediately sent twice daily to affected teachers and students from Jan 17, 2015. Based on the above clarification, our department would like to correct the miscommunication as reported in the press.
“Our department regrets the inconvenience caused due to low pressure experienced by SMK Long Lama. We had taken longer time, in total 10 days, due to difficulty in detecting and locating the burst pipe and substantial replacement works to restore supply,” it said in a press statement yesterday.
The state PWD was responding to a report by thesundaypost that students in SMK Long Lama had been squabbling over limited water supply at the crowded school in Baram for the past fortnight, where boarders started queuing at 2am for a hard-earned bath.
Parents exposed the outrage of their children due to ‘water rationing’ and life in a crowded hostel of 600 in a Grade A school that saw three boarders sharing a mattress.
The issue had received the attention of Public Utilities Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau.
Awang Tengah, when asked to respond to the issue, was shocked that PWD had failed to act with urgency to restore treated water supply to the school, saying there was no excuse to sit on the report.
Dennis also reacted in a similar way, saying the welfare of teachers and students warranted priority.
The state PWD assured the school and consumers in general that they would attend to complaints promptly and would not stand idle.
Meanwhile yesterday, State Education Department director Serina Sauni downplayed the severity of the predicament faced by the students, rubbishing claims that they had to queue up at 2am to collect water for bathing from a water tanker, thus depriving them of their sleep and alertness in the class.
Clearing the air, Serina said she personally visited the school on Jan 19 and had taken note of a non serious leak at the main water pipe which leads to the school.
“The Public Works Department (JKR) has even taken the initiative to supply clean water to the school every day after being notified of the leak,” she elaborated when met by reporters after the ceremony to hand over English Language Teaching Assistants to selected schools at a hotel here.
The daily supply of clean water by JKR, she claimed, totally diminished the notion that students had to fetch water for bathing at 2am.
Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah, who was present at the same function, said the government viewed water issues holistically and seriously.
“The state government is also looking at ways on how to extend the coverage of water as well as electricity to the people,” said Fatimah who is Dalat assemblywoman.
Citing her constituency as an example, she said water shortage was common during the festive seasons when demand exceeded supply.
These issues, she added, could be a thing of the past if water facilities were upgraded and their capacity properly calculated to meet demand.