Xavier (left) speaking at the press conference. At centre is Shafie and on the right is Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony.
KOTA KINABALU: The Federal Government has allocated RM170 million to reduce the non-revenue water (NRW) rate in Sabah, said Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr A Xavier Jayakumar.
“For now, I can say that we (Federal Government) have allocated RM170 million to address the NRW issue in Sabah and we have arranged several projects, which will be extended till next year.
“We have to reduce the NRW in Sabah to earn a bigger profit for the people of Sabah, both in the urban and rural areas,” Xavier told reporters when met at his courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal yesterday.
Xavier disclosed that the Federal Government was planning to reduce Sabah’s current NRW rate from 52 per cent to 20 per cent.
“To reduce NRW would be very costly. So, we will be doing a continuous program in funding the NRW scheme whereby we want to bring it down as far as possible – it should come down to 20 per cent.
“It will take a period of time before we can do this and we have to educate the people also as far as water use is concerned,” Xavier explained.
He pointed out that the NRW rate is high throughout the states in the country; the lowest is around 24 to 28 per cent.
Xavier also said that his ministry would further discuss the State Government’s request to prioritize the projects for Papar Dam and Kogopon.
Meanwhile Shafie, who echoed Xavier’s call in addressing the NRW issues in Sabah, pointed out that Kota Kinabalu is big city packed with not only locals but with an increasing number of tourists as well. With this, the demand for water will also increase.
“That is why we have asked (the Federal Government) to prioritise the construction the Papar Dam to supply sufficient water supply, not only in the short term but in the long term as well,” he said.
Shafie disclosed that the State Government would also want to prioritize flood mitigation in Kota Belud, considering the fact that flood had seemingly curbed the district from realising its full potential in paddy plantation.
In this regard, he said that State Government was seeking to deepen the river in Kota Belud to facilitate the implementation of the future projects in that district.
As per Shafie’s request, Xavier said that the Federal Government was currently completing its study on the river basin in Kota Belud – as means to give ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for flood mitigation in that district.
“For this, the ministry has allocated RM7 million to conduct the study, which would take about nine months to a year and after that we will discuss the results with the State Government in order to implement holistic solution for the whole area.
“This is very important for Sabah as far as food security is concerned and at the same time to avoid disasters in the area,” Xavier said.
Shafie further contended that, apart from coordination, a strong cooperation between the State Government and Federal Government was equally important in ensuring that the water-related projects in the state could be implemented.
Despite the current financial constraints faced by the state, he asserted that priority would be given towards addressing the state’s water issues.
Shafie said that Tuesday’s courtesy call marked the second meeting between him and Xavier and more meetings would follow to coordinate and monitor water projects in Sabah.