Water Department deliberates extending water supply to Kota Marudu
Published on: Friday, June 14, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
In this part of Tandek, a pump is used to draw water from Sg Bongan.
THE Water Department is deliberating over the feasibility of extending a supply to one part of Kota Marudu and will step up efforts to maintain its installations servicing a Karamunsing neighbourhood.
This follows an appeal from a Kg Mangkalua resident who has been depending on a river in the vicinity to get by for years, as well as feedback from a Sunny Garden consumer about the dry taps in her home.
ADVERTISEMENT
The former and his neighbours use a gravity feed to draw water from Sg Bongan as there are no distribution pipes going to any of the 174 houses in the village.
He estimates that Kg Mangkalua has a population of about 1,064 and was located slightly over 11 kilometres away from Kota Marudu.
The Karamunsing homeowner, on the other hand, lost her supply for three days earlier this week.
The pumps inside this department installation service consumers in the Sunny Garden area.
She was displeased with the response from the agency’s Careline staff, during this period, as they were unable to specify when the water to her premises was likely to be restored.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Kg Mangkalua inhabitant made his plea in writing, while the Sunny Garden consumer provided Hotline with her address. The letter and other pertinent details were forwarded to the Department.
A spokesman for the agency’s Kota Marudu office confirmed receipt of the correspondence, saying that due consideration would be given to the resident’s request, once the water pressure in the Tandek area of Sipitang had been improved.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The existing strength of the supply in this part of the district is simply not strong enough for water to reach Kg Mangkalua,” he said.
To make matters worse, he said the village was located at the end of the Department’s distribution-line.
“We have been implementing a rationing exercise here just to ensure that each of our Tandek consumers get some tap-water.
“The pressure of the supply will have to be increased substantially so that water can reach all those living in Kg Mangkalua.”
The spokesman said the administration was putting together a proposal for a potential strategy to do this.
“We want to have a reservoir built in the Tandek area and are in the midst of finalising the details of our plan.”
He said the proposal would be submitted to the Department’s headquarters once it was ready.
“We hope our superiors will weigh up the possibility of including our plan in the list of works to be carried out under the next ‘Rancangan Malaysia (Malaysia Plan)’”.
Meanwhile, a problem with the control panel at the Department’s Sunny Garden pump-house was to blame for water woes in the neighbourhood.
Another department’s spokesman said this came to light during a check of the mechanisms inside the building.
“Our technicians found that one of the starters was out of order and replaced it on the spot, before resetting the control panel,” he said.
“This component was likely to have been damaged as a result of an unexpected power surge and, because it was not operating as it should, the duty pump may have been similarly impacted.”
He explained that the installation housed one other pump which was a stand-by device.
The spokesman said the agency’s staff had since been instructed to step-up their inspections of this pump-house to prevent this problem from recurring.
“They were asked to be especially mindful of any blackouts that may occur in this part of Karamunsing, in case the duty pump didn’t come on by itself and had to be manually reactivated.”
When asked how often its equipment inside was maintained, he said this was done according to a fixed schedule.
“The pumps are checked once every two or three months. This periodic maintenance involves ensuring that the control panel, including the automatic sensor, functions as it should.
“The components for the pumps are also greased as and when this becomes necessary.”
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
.jpg)
.jpg)
