Hamirul (second right) and Fung (right) during the meeting yesterday to work out a cooperation to address Tawau water issues.
TAWAU: The causes of water disruptions at Bandar Sri Indah and Merotai areas are broken pipes, low water pressure and maintenance works being carried out.
District Water Works Department engineer Hamirul Ariffin said it would take several days for the water supply or pressure to return to normal as the water pressure needed time to normalize and at the same time ‘flushing’ was also being carried out where there are ‘air-locks’ in the pipes.
Hamirul disclosed this in a briefing yesterday for Tawau member of parliament’s representative Fung Thin Yein who is gathering information on water issue in order to address the matter which is one of public concerns over the years.
For long-term plan, Hamirul said the water treatment plants at North Road and Cintamata had to be upgraded, where a proposal had already been made and needed to be brought to the cabinet for approval.
On the dam construction at Cintamata, he said it would take about four years to complete so for the moment, maintenance, especially on broken pipes, was vital for the district.
Meanwhile, Fung said any proposal by the department would be followed up by the Tawau parliamentary office to hasten works to address the water issues that had dragged on for years.
Hamirul said for the areas where water was supplied from Cintamata, any water disruptions would be addressed within one day while areas under the North treatment plant would take about three days.
Members of the public can call the department’s hotline at 0195354600 (7am-11pm including public holidays).
Hamirul (second right) and Fung (right) during the meeting yesterday to address the water issues.