KUCHING: The Sarawak state government together with the Malaysian Water Association (MWA) will host the International Water Association (IWA) Water Safety Conference from this November 2 to 4, 2010.
The conference themed ‘Managing Drinking Water Quality for Public Health’, was scheduled to be held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK). It is organised by MWA and supported the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Sarawak state government.
In conjunction with the Conference, MWA has also planned for an exhibition, titled Borneo Water And Wastewater 2010 to be held concurrently. According to a press release, the exhibition, the first of its kind, was to help specially to address the specific water and wastewater needs of the Borneo region.
While the conference would serve as a platform for water professionals to learn from each other and exchange ideas about critical issues in water quality and safety, the exhibition would serve as a showcase of the latest technologies and expertise that companies and water operators possessed to address these issues.
The theme of the conference would cover urban, community and household level management of drinking water quality.
The president of MWA, Ahmad Zahdi Jamil expected over 300 international delegates to attend the conference, from a wide variety of water professionals. These included operational staff of water operators to social scientists; government administrators to source protection specialists.
Ahmad Zahdi added that besides the conference being a platform for individuals to share their experience and ideas, it would also ‘provide a good opportunity for delegates to interact with professionals across disciplines and regions to discuss common challenges and appropriate solutions.’
The conference and exhibition were one of the many MWA-organised events that support MWA’s objective in making Malaysia the regional water hub for developing countries.
The MWA chose Sarawak as the venue for this conference as its international delegates would be attracted to Kuching’s many offerings as an exotic destination coupled with world-class convention facilities and resources offered by BCCK.
These international events would also expose Kuching further to host many major international conferences in the future.
The organisers were confident that the conference and exhibition would act as catalyst for Sarawak to become a centre for international meetings and conferences due to its diversity of culture amazing reserved national parks, wonderful food, world class golf and international hotels in addition to dedicated professionals that specialise in handling conferences and events.
The last IWA Water Safety Conference on Water Safety Plans was held in Lisbon, Portugal in 2008. The past conference provided an opportunity to signpost best practices in water quality management and helped to stimulate further implementation of Water Safety.
Sarawak was also a perfect venue for this conference, being a state rich in bio-diversity, since the conference would also address the significant drivers for water quality and safety of today including the impacts of climate change, increased urbanisation and managing resources for drinking water.