Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has instructed the Water Department to invoke the laws under its purview and bring the culprits involved in water thefts to court.
“Arrest them and charge them in court,” he said.
“Similarly, we want factories found stealing water to be brought to court instead of merely issuing them compounds,” he said.
He said it was imperative for stern action to be taken against because illegal connections have been identified as the main reason for the 60 per cent Non-Revenue Water (NRW) in Sabah, the highest in the country.
Speaking at the Chief Minister’s Department post-Cabinet meeting, Wednesday, Hajiji said the State Cabinet called up the Water Department for a briefing following the demonstration by a group that included Universiti Malaysia Sabah students demanding the water issues to be resolved.
“The State Cabinet was briefed that during the past two months, UMS only experienced water outage for one or two days due to burst pipes,” he said, adding that the Department had been supplying water to UMS between four million to seven million litres daily coupled with the well tube that can supply one million litres daily.
“I have asked the UMS Vice Chancellor to look into the matter to find out the reason water is not reaching the students,” he said.
The Cabinet was briefed that water supply to UMS became scarce due to the many illegal connections from five villages leading up to the university, he said.
“That is why I want the Water Department enforcement to go and disconnect these illegal connections. Take stern action against the culprits,” he said, adding that these illegal connections were found to redirect water to several villages located behind UMS, which is on disputed land between the settlers and the land owners.
“Perhaps, the Water Department could install a 500-litre tank at the site and charge the people there for the water. This will prevent them from reconnecting illegally to the mains,” he said.
Nonetheless, he said, the State Government’s responsibility is to supply water and various efforts have been made contrary to opposition claims.
The Telibong II Water Treatment Plant has been completed and is now awaiting the water pipe installation to be completed, he said, adding that once completed it would provide an additional 160mld to cater for the northern part of Sabah, including UMS and surrounding area.
Apart from that, works to boost water supply on the southern part of the West Coast that would benefit people in Papar, Lok Kawi and Putatan have already started eight months ago and are expected to be completed by 2026.
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