KUCHING: Out of RM2.8 billion allocated by the state government to address rural water-stressed areas, RM2.2 billion has been awarded to contractors.
“There are 346 projects in various stages of implementation. Some are already tendered, some already started, and a few are being designed,” said Utilities Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom when met by reporters after launching the Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) Operation and Maintenance (O&M) standard
operating procedures (SOPs) and Contract Administration SOPs at Citadines Hotel here yesterday.
According to the permanent secretary to the Utilities Ministry Datuk Alice Jawan Empaling,
approximately 50 projects are still being designed. She added that the remainder of the projects were still undergoing the tendering process.
Dr Rundi, however, was confident that the entire endeavour could be achieved within the allocated
timeframe, which is until the end of 2020.
“We have identified the water-stressed areas and the projects will be implemented,” he said, adding that the projects involved intervention programmes, short-term programmes, and also the
ultimate Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme.
Dr Rundi also mentioned that one of the problems in coastal areas such as Mukah was water salinity.
He remarked that once the projects had been done by 2020, the problem would be resolved by working on available facilities and improving the grid system.
His ministry, he said, aimed to make use of proper water towers because in certain areas such towers were not used.
“All this has been addressed in our master plan to look into certain sectors and ensure that we can deliver enough water to all users,” he said.
When asked about claims that water pressure on Pulau Bruit was low, he talked about a plan for eight packages of water supply systems all the way to Tanjung Manis, but due to problems with the source of water, the whole system could not be used.
“The water capacity should be 125 million litres per day, but there are only about 50 million litres per day now,” Dr Rundi said, adding that another issue was the high ammonia content.
He said that once the two-year programme of looking into water-stressed areas was completed by 2020, these issues would be resolved.
Also in attendance at the launch were Utilities (Water Supply) Assistant Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and JBALB Sarawak director Chang Kuet Shian.
