Undoubtedly, the State Government, by continuing with the people centric policies of the previous leaders namely Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud and the late Datuk Patinggi Haji Adenan Haji Satem and embarking on the forward thinking and visionary initiatives to fast track the development, is putting Sarawak on the right path towards becoming developed State with high income economy by 2030.
The new initiatives, which are forward thinking and visionary, being introduced by the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg, include the setting up of Development Bank of Sarawak, acquisition of Bakun Hydroelectric Power Dam from the Federal Government and the pledging of RM1 billion investments for technology and communication infrastructure for Sarawak to embark on the digital economy.
Besides, the State Government will also embark on exploring downstream activities related to oil and gas industry, the well calculated plan to set up a Light Rail Transport (LRT) system to be implemented in stages and the proposal for the state-wide water grid.
The State government believes the new initiatives to fast track the development through the Rural Transformation Program are increasingly necessary to relieve the people from the rising cost of living due to the uncertainty of the national and world economy, which has direct impact on the State’s economy.
For example, the State has to set aside bigger allocation in the annual budget for rural development, which includes rural electricity and water supply for the whole State and the reduction in electricity tariff for domestic, commercial and industrial consumptions.
The Minister of Rural Electricity and Water Supply, Datuk Dr. Stephen Rundi anak Uttom, in his winding speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, for his opening speech, said his Ministry is fully aware of the fact that an adequate raw water source is an absolute requirement in order to ensure that all communities will always have a sustainable and reliable treated water supply not only to meet their current but future demands.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said his Ministry would take various steps that would be aligned with the Chief Minister’s vision for Sarawak to become a developed State by 2030. For example, one of the main objectives of Sarawak Integrated Water Resources Management Master Plan Study, which was carried out in 2009, was to formulate a water resources development master plan to meet water demand needs up to the year 2050 for the purposes of water supply and irrigation.
He said the recommendations include the construction of future water supply dams that serves as a guide in the development of raw water resources for meeting future water demands in the State.
Besides, the Ministry has taken a decision to look out of box solution such as tapping the
water resources available at hydro-electric power dams to resolve the water supply problems in rural and coastal areas.
The use of dams for multi-purpose, though a practice in many parts of the world, is also being acknowledged as a major challenge for the multi-purpose dams. Hence, there is a need to address such issues to minimize contradictions and competition associated with multi-purpose dams.
He assured that efforts would be made to put in place an appropriate governance structure to allow coordinated and integrated water use management for effective strategy, planning, decision making and operation of such multi-purpose dams.
In this connection, the State Government has agreed to appoint a consultant within this year to carry out an overall study on the use of the reservoirs of hydro-electric power dams as raw water sources for the water treatment plants.
Essentially, there is a need to preserve the catchment areas of these dams so as to ensure that the raw water quality is kept in pristine condition which is fit for human consumption. Besides, the security issue of the dams must be looked into also to prevent any acts of sabotage that will compromise the quality of the raw water.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said his Ministry will liaise with the Attorney General’s Chamber on how best to gazette tsuch areas as protected areas.
He said Bengoh Dam, which was completed in 2016, had to be used during the dry spell in 2015 to release raw water for Batu Kitang water treatment plant when the flow in Sungai
Sarawak Kiri at the raw water intake point had become insufficient.
The Bengoh Dam was built to meet the long term water supply demand of Kuching and its surrounding areas up to the year 2030 by maintaining the desired water level at Batu Kitang intakes throughout the year.
The water from Bengoh Dam, released into Sungai Sarawak Kiri, will be pumped for treatment at Batu Kitang water treatment plant whenever the need arises during dry spell or when water demand has exceeded the available yield in Sungai Sarawak Kiri.
After treatment, the water will then be conveyed to consumers in Kuching and surrounding areas including Asajaya and Sadong Jaya. There is no direct supply from Bengoh Dam to Asajaya and Sadong Jaya.
However, additional water supply can be made available to Asajaya and Sadong Jaya after the upgrading of Batu Kitang Plant 3, now in progress, from 200 MLD to 400 MLD coupled with the on-going construction of the pipeline from Batu Kitang treatment plant to Entingan reservoirs.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said the root causes of problems, pertaining to water supply, which are numerous, must be addressed as a matter of urgency, in order to effectively resolve the perennial recurring problems, which include old treatment plants of inadequate capacities and overloading of treatment plants to meet increasing water demand.
Besides, the problems also include aged and leaking water mains and water tanks, high non-revenue water, inadequate raw water sources, water mains becoming undersized as the water demands increase over time and the operational and maintenance issues.
The water problems represent numerous challenges that have to be overcome by the Ministry in upgrading the existing water supply infrastructure in order to provide quality and efficient water supply services that can meet the higher expectations of consumers.
He said an integral master plan will be drawn to provide a framework for water supply improvement and development to ensure sustainable water supply for the current and future generations. The Ministry must address all issues relating to water problems in a holistic manner rather than on an ad hoc fire-fighting basis.
In this regards, the master plan will cover not only the long- term planning for raw water sources but also for the treatment plant capacities, the distribution network system including adequate water storages, the required one day storage and the state-wide water supply grid.
It will also cover water demand management which will address the issues of holistic Non-Revenue Water management, water tariff setting mechanism, the development of systems such as GIS, SCADA, water billing system network modeling system, data management system, public awareness, education and communication programs and on the need for conservation of water amongst many others.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said the State Government’s rural transformation initiative, aimed at addressing the lack of basic infrastructure and social amenities in Sarawak rural areas, is one of the major focuses on the provision of water supply to rural areas.
Presently, the water supply coverage in the urban area is almost 100% but the coverage in the rural areas is only 61%. Hence, there is an utmost urgency in expediting the provision of water supply to the remaining 39% of the rural populace, which represents around 114,000 households.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said one of the major thrusts of his Ministry is to expedite the implementation of Sarawak Alternative Rural Water Supply (SAWAS) Program to provide treated water to 114,000 households to uplift their living standards and livelihood.
This SAWAS program will be implemented by JBALB in collaboration with Mineral and Geo science Department and the Health Department through its Unit Bekalan Air dan Kebersihan Alam Sekeliling (BAKAS).
The overhauling of the existing water supply systems, which have become inadequate and deficient, together with the implementation of numerous improvement and development projects, will require a lot of money from both the State and Federal Governments.
However, the implementation and improvement of numerous projects must be carried out for Sarawak to be at par with the states in Peninsular Malaysia in terms of water supply coverage and level of service.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said about RM17 billion will be required for the implementation of the various water supply programs in the current 5-year and next Malaysia Plan period. The requirement is inclusive of about RM10 billion for the provision of water supply to rural areas under Rural Water Supply (SAWAS and KKLW) programs.
Besides, the state requires RM7 billion for replacement of ageing pipelines, NRW program, provision of sufficient storages and rehabilitation of treatment plants, raw water source development, upgrading of water treatment plants, construction of reservoirs and IT systems development to improve the service.
The State will seek for more Federal funding from Economic Planning Unit (EPU), the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKLW) and KeTTHA and adopt other non-conventional means of financing the works including getting loans from the proposed Development Bank of Sarawak to finance some of the costs in view of the huge amount of fund required.
Datuk Dr. Rundi said water supply in Kuching City is being distributed through a mixed system, via direct pumping and through balancing and storage reservoirs. Plans are in place to construct more reservoirs in Kuching Water Board supply areas in the future.
He said Kuching Water Board will put up a proposal for the construction of Sipaya reservoir with a capacity of 18ml, Bukit Panchor reservoir with a capacity of 48 ml and a reservoir with a capacity of 60 ml at Mile 7 In the mid-term review of 11th Malaysia Plan.
The supply of treated water to Tanjung Manis from comes from Sarikei, in anticipation of future industrial needs, is planned to supply using the new source at Sungai Ma’aw, Sibu, which has been completed recently.
The water intake package, which has been facing some delay due to technical issues, has been resolved and is targeted for the pipeline will be commissioned by end of June 2018.
