PUTRAJAYA has been urged to provide Sarawak sufficient allocation to help achieve full water coverage by 2030.
And to achieve this target, the state needs a whopping RM19.2 billion allocation.
Utility and Telecommunication Minister Datuk Julaihi Narawi said the overall water coverage in Sarawak now is 84.1 per cent, with 99 per cent coverage in urban areas and 67.8 per cent rural coverage.
The Sarawak government, he said, had allocated RM4 billion to implement the Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme for ‘stressed areas’, which involved 298 projects, including the Sarawak Alternative Water Supply (SAWAS) scheme.
To date, 229 projects have been completed, 52 projects expected to be completed this year, 12 projects expected to be completed next year while the remaining five projects are in the tender process.
He said this when delivering his ministerial winding up speech today.
Apart from that, Julaihi said the water demand in Sarawak is expected to increase from the current 2,000 million litres of water per day (MLD) to2,400 MLD in 2030.
“Therefore, some critical main projects need to be implemented immediately to meet the rising demand for water.
“At the same time, we need to have sufficient water reserve margin, which is 20 per cent of the capacity of the water treatment plant,” he added.
Sarawak is currently constructing several new power stations and transmission lines to meet the increasing demand of electricity supply, which is expected to reach 6,460 megawatts (MW) by 2028, compared to the current 4,627 MW.
He said it is projected that 2,122MW is needed for the needs of commercial and industrial users in 2028 while 4,338 MW is estimated for the energy-intensive industries at the Samalaju Industrial Park Power under the Purchase Agreement (PPA) and power export to West Kalimantan under the Power Exchange Agreement (PEA).
As for the generation capacity mix, he said, 60 per cent will be from the hydropower, which is a renewable resource, and the rest from gas, coal as well as diesel.
Meanwhile, the rural electrification coverage in Sarawak has risen to 97.7 per cent and is estimated to achieve full coverage by 2025.
Julaihi said the Sarawak government allocated RM2.37 billion for 188 rural electrification projects, which will benefit 29,500 households.
To date, 116 projects have been completed while 69 projects are in various implementation stages and three in the tender process.
