(From left) JKR Dalat water treatment plant technician Mohd Sahari showing the pumps to Kilat and Sait.
JKR Dalat water treatment plant technician Mohd Sahari showing the site of the Dalat new water treatment plant which is expected to be operational by November this year to Kilat (centre) and Sait (left).
DALAT: The water woes here are expected to be solved by November this year when the RM3.3-million water treatment plant is completed, JKR Dalat spokesman Kilat Naipok said.
The new water treatment plant which commenced construction in April this year is a long term solution to the inconsistent water supply for both Dalat and Oya for the past two years. It will contribute an additional 3.4 million litres of water per day (MLD) when operational.
Kilat thus called on the people of Dalat and Oya to be patient and bear with the current inconsistent supply of water.
He assured that for this coming Hari Raya, JKR would ensure that all its assets are in good working condition to supply sufficient water for the festival.
He explained that the water shortage in Dalat and Oya areas were due to two main reasons – the failure of pumps or burst pipe and increasing demand.
“Oya needs 1.4 MLD and presently Dalat has been supplying 0.6 MLD while Mukah is supplying an additional 0.8 MLD.
“The problem arises when Mukah, which is also in demand for water due to rapid development, fails to supply water to Oya. Once that happens, Dalat water treat plant will have to make adjustment by controlling its supply to villages, thus casing the inconsistent supply of water to Dalat.
“On technical side, there are presently three raw water pumps in Dalat – two in Sg Ud and another one in Lebrassau. These pumps are ageing and may break down (anytime). When that happens, then Dalat will also suffer from water shortage.
“So notwithstanding any unforeseen circumstances, by November this year, the Dalat water woes will be a thing of the past,” Kilat told BAT V here yesterday.
He disclosed that the Dalat water treatment plant had been overworking as it was designed to treat only 2.3 MLD, but instead had been treating 3.6 MLD – 60 per cent above its capacity.
“There is also a shortage of manpower at our water treatment plant. There are supposed to be four shifts per day but presently, we have only three shifts. Thus we need additional staff. But the recruitment of new staff would depend on approval from our headquarters in Kuching,” explained Kilat.
The inconsistent water supply in Dalat had prompted its assemblywoman cum Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah to seek additional funding from the government.
“She is a hard working YB who goes to the ground every weekend. So she knows the problem faced by her constituents,” said PBB Dalat deputy chairman Sait Seman.
Sait stressed the people should not blame Fatimah whenever there is water shortage in Dalat as the issue lies in the hands of JKR.
“Local people always like to ‘fitnah’ (accuse) her in Facebook that she is not doing enough for the people. I can be a witness that last year when there was no water here in Dalat, she flew back instantly from her holidays and came back to call for an emergency meeting with JKR to solve the problem,” said Sait.
He also hoped that JKR staff would not sleep on their jobs because the local people would suffer if they were not effective.
Some 8,750 people from 10 villages including from Dalat and Oya depend on the Dalat water treatment plant.
These villages are Kpg Teh, Oya, Kpg Balan, Kpg Tanam, Kpg Medong, Kpg Kekan, Kpg Laut Tengah, Kpg Kut Muara, Kpg Brunei, Kpg Seberang, Kpg Sg Ud, Kpg Hilir/Tengah including Dalat and Oya towns.