KUCHING: Areas with water supply issues throughout Sarawak have increased in number compared to last year.
Assistant Minister for Water Supply Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said this when met by reporters here, yesterday.
Last year, 211 critical water supply areas were identified and this year the figure increased to 348. Among the areas identified are Simunjan, Sebuyau and Pulau Bruit.
Abdul Rahman said that among the factors of critical water supply in the areas are pipe leaks due to old pipes, the increasing population in the villages and geographical factors such as the landscape shift.
“The approaches adopted by the Ministry of Utilities are to identify the specific hotspots that have leaking pipes and replace them with new ones.
“In the case of the increasing population in the villages, one of the approaches that was taken previously was to construct a booster pump that was able to increase the water pressure to channel water to the villages.
“Among other approaches for a short-term plan is to prepare a high-level water tank in several areas and water can be stored and used in case of a halt to water supply or during draughts,” he said.
Abdul Rahman stated that the long-term plan is to identify the areas and include them in the Rural Water Supply Scheme as the reservoir that was once constructed where it channeled water source from the nearby rivers, is now unable to do so. Therefore, alternatives like seeking nearby water sources are necessary.
He noted that the Sarawak government has allocated RM2.8 billion to handle the water supply issue and as of today, 85 percent of the allocation has already been used for the water upgrading projects.
“The water supply issue will not be 100 percent fully tackled as it is a common matter as pipe bursts can happen anywhere.
“These are the approaches made by the state government with the RM2.8 billion allocation for the short-term plan in the stressed areas,” he said.
Abdul Rahman added that right now, they are focused on handling the water supply issue in the identified critical areas.
“During the draught season, we have an immediate response where we received 24 water tanks that are set up by the Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB). When there is a shortage of water, JBALB will deliver water to the residents.
“The supply of water tanks is consistent as we have delivered new tanks where it was previously blue in colour but under the Sarawak government water supply programme, the colour has changed to brown.
“The process is done through the district office and a chief from each village should identify the number of residents who need the water tank,” he said.
He said certain villages sometimes do not receive water supply because the pipelines that were installed could be 30 to 40 years old and when water pressure is applied, it could cause the pipe to burst. Therefore, old pipes have to be replaced with new ones.
As for the long-term plan to implement a water grid system from the southern part to the northern part of the state, he said it is still in the planning stage.
