PETALING JAYA: Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor has instructed the state water department to invoke the laws under its purview and prosecute those suspected of stealing water.
In a statement issued by the chief minister’s office, Hajiji said stern action had to be taken against those stealing water as illegal connections had been identified as the main reason for the state’s 60% non-revenue water (NRW), which was the highest in the country.
“Arrest them and charge them in court. Similarly, we want factories found to be stealing water to be brought to the court of law instead of merely issuing them with compounds,” he said at the chief minister’s department’s post-Cabinet meeting at Menara Kinabalu in Kota Kinabalu.
About 80 Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students held a protest on Friday afternoon over the university’s water supply issues, before leaving Menara Kinabalu on Saturday morning after failing to hand over a memorandum to Hajiji.
Hajiji said the state Cabinet called the Sabah water department for a briefing following the protest, during which the department said it had been supplying four million to seven million litres of water daily to UMS, with a well tube able to supply one million litres daily.
The department also said water supply to UMS was scarce due to the numerous illegal connections supplying water to several villages located behind UMS.
Calling for the department’s enforcement team to dismantle these illegal connections, Hajiji also suggested that a 500-litre tank be installed at the site.
“Charge the people there for the water. This will prevent them from reconnecting illegally to the water mains,” he said.
Hajiji added that once the Telibong II water treatment plant is operational, it would provide an additional 160 million litres per day to cater to residents living in the northern part of Sabah, including UMS and its surrounding area.
The chief minister also said work to boost water supply on the southern part of the state’s west coast – which would benefit people in Papar, Lok Kawi and Putatan – started eight months ago and would likely be completed by 2026.
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