Water rationing if dry spell continues
Published on: Thursday, March 19, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Water Department may have to implement water-rationing exercises if the dry spell persists for another month.Its West Coast engineer Teo Chee Kong said for now water levels in both the Babagon Dam and Telibong Dam are satisfactory."Babagon Dam is currently 81 per cent full while Telibong Dam, which is about half the size of Babagon Dam, is at 95 per cent. So water supply for areas in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan is adequate," he said.
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Teo said despite the optimistic outlook, things might change if the current dry spell continues until mid-April."I am not saying that we will be in trouble but we will have to reduce our production, impose water-rationing. From now until then, there is no problem. If we do not have rain for two, three months, then of course we will have problem," he said.He also denied that the department had started rationing water to consumers, saying that any shortage in water supply experienced by consumers might have been the result of other technical problems such as leakage in the mains.The last time any significant amount of rain fell in Kota Kinabalu was about two weeks ago.
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The only weather disturbance that might have brought rain onto Sabah was the tropical storm "Betty" which entered the Philippines area on Tuesday night.However, less than 24 hours later, it had weakened into a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 55kph.
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The Meteorological Department had issued a positive weather forecast for Sabah, predicting isolated rain in several areas from Wednesday through Sunday this week. Its State director Abdul Malek Tussin said more rain can be expected in May."We are now entering the end of the Northeast monsoon and we can expect more rain during the transition period," he said.March and October form transitions between the Southwest and Northeast Monsoon with the former usually starting from May to September.Meanwhile, the notice on the increase of water rate from 90 sen to RM2 that has gone viral in the social media was only meant for the Wawasan Plaza.Water Deputy Director Teo Chee Kang said the notice was issued by WTW Property Services (Sabah) Sdn Bhd to the unit owners in Wawasan Plaza.He said the Cabinet approved on Feb. 1 this year the tariff of RM1.60 per cubic metre for usage of up to 70 cubic metre and RM2 per cubic metre for usage of above 70 cubic metre.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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