UNIVERSITI Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) management must be proactive in controlling the water pressure around the hilly campus, said Deputy Chief Minister III cum Works Minister Datuk Ir. Shahelmey Yahya.
He said the matter of scarce supply especially in the city’s northern region should be a team effort between the university and State Government.
Sabah needs 1,600 million litres per day (mld) but for now, only 1,400 mld can be supplied.
Shahelmey reiterated that the delay in projects, namely the Papar Dam and a few treatment plants that are only now under construction, has hampered the supply progress.
“The short-term solution for UMS other than sending water tankers every day is cooperation from its technical team to control the water pressure on campus,” he said.
Shahelmey said studies of the Papar Dam now in its financial stages would be one of the many providers of relief.
“This is in addition to the Ulu Padas Hydropower Dam for which a groundbreaking ceremony took place in December.
“The construction of the Kogopon Phase 2 Treatment Plant in Papar is on schedule with its estimated completion date in 2026. This will solve water woes in the area including South of Kota Kinabalu.
“The Telibong Phase 2 plant has begun churning water but piping and grid network issues have halved the 80 mld output for Northern Kota Kinabalu. The expected volume will be met in phases.
“We are still faced with illegal tapping rampant in Sepanggar which needs a combined effort from other agencies to tackle.
“Vandalism is another problem. Although they are secure, there will always be people who just want to destroy them.
“For Pulau Sebatik in Tawau, two assemblymen and the Kalabakan MP have approached me. Plans to deepen the existing dam have been expedited.
“We hope we can make the big decisions for Sabah’s water supply this year,” Shahelmey said, after launching the MyJANS (Sabah Water Department) mobile application at Hilton in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 11. The app is currently only available for Android phones.
He said it is the State Government’s efforts in digitalisation to provide better services for its customers.
The public can get billing updates and even lodge complaints that are guaranteed to be responded to in 30 minutes in part of a new customer policy.
Shahelmey stressed that the public be cooperative and not misuse the app by lodging baseless reports to avoid wasting resources.
“There is a dedicated team at the Sabah Water Department (SWD) headquarters and every district is open 24/7.
“There are 2,000 users currently registered…There are more than half a million registered SWD customers in the whole State,” he said.
In other developments, he said the department still has RM262m in outstanding public dues.
He urged customers to be more responsible and pay for what they owe.
“If the people don’t pay then it will affect the State’s financial earnings. For the past years the SWD has hit the RM200 to RM300 million revenue mark meaning the public is still paying nonetheless,” he said.
