RM300 million Federal loan for water not fully used
Published on: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Ricardo Unto
The Federal Government’s RM300 million loan assistance for the short-term resolution of water issues in Sabah has been approved, said Shahelmey. - FMT pic for illustration only.
Kota Kinabalu: The Federal Government’s RM300 million loan assistance for the short-term resolution of water issues in Sabah has been approved, said Deputy Chief Minister III cum Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
“However, the allocation has not been fully used due to management processes associated with the approved initiatives,” he said during question time at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, Monday.
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He also said during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on April 20, it was agreed that after the value management lab held last March, the procurement process could proceed without waiting for agreements to be signed between the Federal and State Governments.
Shahelmey was responding to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan – Senallang).
To a supplementary question by Datuk Jafry Ariffin (Umno - Sukau), he said every damage report should be addressed by the contractor panel appointed based on emergency works.
“However, this issue is not only happening in Sukau but also in several places in Sabah.
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“Therefore, the Ministry is streamlining the procurement procedures for emergency works to be carried out.”
Earlier, to the original question by Aliakbar Gulasan (Nominated Assemblyman), Shahelmey said the Ministry has short and long-term plans to resolve the State’s water woes.
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“The Sabah Water Department (JANS) took several actions and emergency measures to reduce water supply problems during the recent drought season.
“These include the construction of temporary weirs and deepening of intake points through dredging works to ensure adequate supply of raw water for the water treatment process to resume smoothly.
“At the same time, JANS continues to collaborate with the Disaster Management Committees in each district to implement the distribution of clean water to meet the demand,” he said.
So far, he said, water distribution involved 67,308 Household Heads (KIR) in 18 affected districts.
“Additionally, JANS collaborated with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) to carry out cloud seeding in strategic areas such as water catchment areas.
“The cloud seeding operation was based on atmospheric cloud suitability forecasts indicating positive signs of rain if cloud seeding is conducted.
“Cloud seeding was conducted in Tawau, Lahad Datu and Papar.
“The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) reported that on March 28 and 29, the operation showed a success rate of 67 per cent, and rainfall was recorded on those two days of the operation.
“However, on the third day, March 30, no rainfall was recorded during the cloud seeding operation.”
JANS has also taken specific initiatives to search for underground raw water sources and process them through the Purifier Water Package Plant (PWPP) system in severely affected areas such as Pulau Sebatik.
Other initiatives implemented include water rationing in affected areas, providing water depots and static tanks to supply treated water to users in selected locations.
“For long-term solutions, among the proposals and implementations are projects to increase water storage capacity to ensure assured raw water supply, such as the construction of Off River Storage (ORS) and dams.
“Projects currently underway include the construction of ORS under the Rural Water Supply Project (BALB) in Semporna, expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the construction of the Tawau Water Dam expected to be completed by mid-2026.
“Meanwhile, projects in the planning stage include the Kota Kinabalu Water Supply System Phase III, the Ulu Padas Water Supply Scheme and the capacity expansion of the Segaliud Water Treatment Plant in Sandakan,” he said.
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