‘Sawas key to realising full water supply coverage in Sarawak’

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Dr Rundi shows his ministerial winding-up speech to the camera before the start of the sitting.

KUCHING: The implementation of the Sarawak Alternative Water Supply (Sawas) project is highly crucial towards achieving Sarawak’s vision of 100 per cent water supply coverage by 2025.

Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom regards Sawas as the most strategic water supply system that is able to provide safe water to remote rural communities, which have been deprived of this amenity all this while.

He points out that as a start, five packages are being implemented as pilot projects in different areas across Sarawak and each is currently in various stages of construction.

“The treatment processes employed under these packages include ultra-filtration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO) and inclined plate clarifier.

“Three sub-packages have been completed and the systems installed are already in operation and providing potable water to about 310 people, comprising 50 people at Rumah Ninting, Lubok Antu, 180 people at Rumah Untat, Song and 80 people at Kampung Kalampun, Lawas,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech at the DUN sitting yesterday.

According to him, the Sawas system for the remaining villages under the five packages are expected to reach completion by this October, where a total of 572 households with a population of about 2,860 will benefit from these projects.

Sawas is under Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme – Stressed Areas, where RM2 billion has been set aside to facilitate the implementation of such projects in the water-stressed areas over the next couple of years under the 11th Malaysia Plan.

Dr Rundi explained that under the water supply grid programme for stressed areas, a total of 222 projects have been identified for implementation.

“The key performance indicator (KPI) set for these projects is to have them implemented within the next two and a half years, until end of 2020.

“The components of the 222 projects will involve raw water sources, treatment plants, distribution network system, improvement works, pipe replacements, non-revenue water (NRW) management, modernisation initiatives and Sawas.”

Later at a press conference held at the media room in the DUN Complex, Dr Rundi said the water supply grid programme is focusing on water-stressed areas first – among them the coastal areas – as well as areas where the gravity feed supply system is not applicable such as Sebuyau, Kabong, Pusa and Beladin.

“We are confident that after having embarked on this new programme, we will be able to carry out the implementation of projects under this programme and hope to resolve all the immediate current issues we are facing by 2020.”