File photo of villagers getting their water supply from a water truck.
State govt seeks federal funds to replace old water mains causing low water pressure
KUCHING: The cause of constant low water pressure and dry taps in areas along the Kuching-Serian Road, Serian, Bau and Lundu Districts is not because of the low capacity of the water treatment plants in these districts but old water mains which make the distribution network inefficient.
This was revealed by Minister of Public Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom yesterday in response to a query on the issue by The Borneo Post which regularly received complaints of lack of water supply and low water pressure from these districts.
To rectify the problem the state government plans to acquire new water mains to replace the old ones throughout the state in the next five years at an estimated cost of RM700 million.
“The master plan is already in place. All we need now is the money to finance the project so that we can increase the capacity of the water supplies to our consumers throughout the state,” said Dr Rundi.
He hoped that the exercise which is considered ‘expensive’ could be completed by 2020.
To finance the mains replacements the state government is turning to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development to provide the fund.
“We are aware of the people’s complaints of low water pressure or sometimes even dry taps to their homes and residences.
“But we are trying our best to secure the necessary funding from the Federal Government so that we can carry out the necessary upgrading of the water mains especially in major towns and cities,” he said.
Dr Rundi added the old mains and water pipes also caused loss of revenue for the government and consumers through leakages.
Recently, Santubong MP and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar called on the State Rural Supply Water Department to address complaints of poor water supply by people in Lundu District.
Wan Junaidi who is also the MP for Santubong which covers Lundu cautioned that if the water supply problem was not addressed, it would be difficult to attract investors to the area especially in the tourism industry.
He added that for major players in the tourism industry to invest in Lundu, basic facilities such as good water supply must be put in place.
“I do hope that the director of the State’s Rural Supply Water Department will go down to the ground and check what the
people are experiencing in Lundu as we often faced dry taps due to insufficient water supply.
Ideally bigger water mains should be laid down from Batu Kitang Water Treatment Plant to replace the current one which is getting too small to cope with the increasing population,” said Wan Junaidi.