Kota Kinabalu: With Sabah experiencing blistering temperatures and reports of shortage of treated water in several areas, social media was abuzz over the precious commodity gushing out freely from a distribution pipe near near Kg Melayu and Kg Delima behind 1Borneo mall.
The Sabah Water Department acted at once. According to Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, heavy rain on Saturday evening impeded work but was over by Sunday afternoon.
“The video is one of the examples of leakages due to theft which has become a challenge to continuously monitor and repair. The department welcomes prompt public feedback when spotting such situation,” he said, when contacted by Daily Express.
As always wherever water theft occurs, several hoses were linked to the mains similar to nearby Kampung Suang Parai recently. A department crackdown in March saw seizures of more than 10 water pumps stashed beneath a drain. The pumps were powered also by illegal electrical connections.
Meaning these illegal squatters, comprising mostly illegal immigrants, not only live free but also help themselves to free water and electricity while law abiding citizens who pay the Water Department and SESB suffer.
They are believed to hire contractors to bore holes into the distribution pipe, to make connections leading to their dwellings in swamp areas downstream.
In the latest incident, a hole was haphazardly piled with debris in an attempt to cover up their tracks despite thousands of litres of clean water gushing out from the cracks.
The completion of the Telibong 2 Water Treatment Plant scheduled for June is seen to be alleviator to the sub district’s water woes.
However, it is yet to be seen how successful the department would be in countering the rampant thefts.
Meanwhile, measures are in place at major public hospitals and clinics in Sabah to ensure operations are not disrupted in the event of dry taps, said State Health Department Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin.
She said major hospitals like Queen Elizabeth Hospital I, Queen Elizabeth Hospital II and the Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital in the city had sufficiently large water tanks to allow operations to continue for between 48 and 72 hours.
“Before our water runs out, we have already prepared additional water tanks on standby,” she said, adding that the department was working with the state Public Works Department and Kota Kinabalu City Hall to face any eventualities from the current water shortage.
Numerous areas including university campuses, industrial parks, housing estates and businesses have been affected by water cuts and low pressure over the past six months or more in the state capital and its greater areas.
Even Kota Kinabalu International Airport was hit with dry taps for about two days, with water supply restored on Friday (May 12).
Dr Rose Nani said that three people in Sabah were treated for heatstroke.
She said a student aged 18 and a nine-year-old pupil were admitted to hospital for three days while a 27-year-old self-employed woman was given outpatient treatment last month.
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