LABUAN: The more than 100,000 islanders here can now look forward to better days ahead as the water crisis plaguing them since 2009 will come to an end with the completion of Phase 2 of the undersea pipeline project.
The RM387 million pipeline, spanning about 25.7 km from Padas River in Beaufort to the island, is expected to supply an additional 38 million litres of water daily for domestic use and the booming oil and gas industries.
Labuan now gets 60 million litres daily. With the completion of the project, the island will have a surplus supply of water, increased to 96 million litres, and is expected to be able to meet rising demand till 2020. The current demand is 56 million litres daily.
The pipeline will be connected to four treatment plants — at Sg Pagar, Kerupang, Jalan Kolam and Bukit Kuda — and 27 reservoirs.
The project demonstrates concern for the islanders’ woes in line with the 1Malaysia concept of People First, Performance Now, introduced by Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak.
And they are only too happy to welcome the Prime Minister when he arrives today to launch the pipeline.
But how did the water crisis come about in the first place?
Due to tremendous development, Labuan began to face a shortage of water some years back, and rationing was imposed, affecting people in all 27 villages on the island. Plant 1 of Petronas Methanol had to be shut down but resumed operating recently.
In 2004, the daily water consumption was 34 million litres, with an excess
of one million litres. But now it has shot to 56 million litres, with the Labuan Water Department resorting to building tube wells to overcome the problem.
Twenty-seven such wells have been completed which can supply nine million
litres daily.
The shortage of water in Labuan after the setting up of Petronas Methanol is about 25 per cent. It required at least 12 million litres daily for its two plants.
The Phase 1 pipeline project, costing RM150 million, was completed in 1989
but was only able to supply 36 million litres daily.
Water Department director Sulaiman Kamisan said he was grateful to the people for their patience.
He said the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication had done its best to ensure adequate supply of water to the islanders, but “there were times when we felt the situation was beyond our control”.
The tube wells were part of the back up plan while the pipeline was the main solution, Sulaiman said.
Now that water shortage would soon be over, the islanders could even smile talking about the problem.
A 45-year-old single mother, Limah Bakri, said the water shortage affected sanitation as some people were forced to use the beach and sea as toilets.
This could have caused an outbreak of diseases, she said.
Another Labuan resident, Abdullah Ahmad, said: “To be able to wash, you need water. No point in teaching sanitation when you don’t have water.”
Talking about the chore of carrying water in pails and containers, his face lit up at mention of the pipeline.
“Thanks to the government, we are returning to normal life … no more waiting for hours for drops of water,” Abdullah said.
Khatijah Jistoh, 28, a housewife, said that she had to visit her family members to bath and to wash clothes.
“If there is no water supply, we had to use unclean water from the wells. We have to buy bottles of drinking water from the shops,” she said.
About 4,000 students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Matriculation College
suffered huge discomfort when water supply to their hostels slowed to a trickle, and they had to rely on tankers from the water department.
The shortage was so acute that some lecturers are reported to have asked for transfers out of Labuan.
A UMS student from Sarawak’s interior, who wished to be known as Abdul Wahid, talked about the misery of having little or no water.
“Whoever gets up early will have a chance to bathe (before the water runs out),” he said. “The worst part is that the toilets stink because there is no water to flush.”
But, for him and the other students and all the islanders, today will be a special new day. – Bernama