Kota Kinabalu: The prolonged water supply issue at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is being addressed, with Sabah Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya confirming that inflow into the campus reservoir has been consistent in recent days.
“Water supply has recovered over the last two days. Hopefully, it will stabilise for now and in the future,” he said, adding that efforts are underway to ensure the problem does not recur.
He said the issue partly stemmed from a faulty indicator in the university’s main reservoir, known as R13, which had given inaccurate water level readings.
“The water inflow into R13 has been consistent lately. However, the existing indicator for the tank is no longer accurate. JANS (Water Department) will replace it within three weeks,” he said when contacted following a site inspection at UMS Sunday.
“In the meantime, JANS will supply regular water level information to UMS on an hourly and daily basis. This data will help the university better schedule its pumping operations,” he said.
Shahelmey added that earlier this week, one of the campus pumps had broken down, but it has since been repaired. “Currently, both pumps are operational,” he said.
R13 has a total capacity of 10 million litres, while UMS also has two other tanks — one holding 6.75 million litres and a newer tank with 3.5 million litres, according to the minister.
Shahelmey said JANS and UMS had held a series of meetings to address the situation, with the latest meeting held on Monday.
“Both parties have agreed on an approach to improve the volume of water into R13 and streamline the pumping schedule from the UMS side,” he said.
He also expressed concern over an open letter by a UMS student addressed to the Sarawak Premier that went viral, saying he was disappointed to see the matter raised on social media while solutions were being worked on.
The student had appealed for intervention over water woes at the campus, sparking widespread online attention.
Shahelmey urged all quarters, including students, not to politicise the issue and assured that the government is committed to resolving it.
