MP: Vandals to blame for Sandakan ‘salty water’
Published on: Thursday, January 05, 2023
By: Winnie Kasmir
The Segaliud holding dam.
SANDAKAN: Member of Parliament for Sandakan, Vivian Wong chided vandals for damaging the river gate at Segaliud River, causing the infiltration of seawater into the Segaliud holding dam which resulted in the unusually high salinity level in the water supply system. “According to the Water Department, a police report has been lodged when they discovered that the river gate at Segaliud River was damaged and cable stolen last month.ADVERTISEMENT
“As a result of the damaged, they could not flush out the sea water, especially during the super high tide last month,” said Vivian.
The vandalised cable at the river gate.
She was recently briefed by the Water Department engineer regarding the water supply quality issue in Sandakan which produces a salty taste.
At the moment, the Water Department is pumping water from the river to the dam in order to reduce the salinity level in the water supply system.
The Department also closely monitoring the issue and assures that the water supply currently is still safe for consumption.
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“I urge the police and enforcement agencies to take stern action against those who are responsible for causing the damages. Their thoughtless action caused sufferings to hundreds of thousands of people in Sandakan.
“While waiting for the replacement parts to arrive from overseas, the Water Department may also go for cloud seeding at the Segaliud area to induce rain to further reduce the level of salinity.
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“I will follow up with the Meteorology Department and other relevant agencies to expedite the process to further improve the quality of our water supply,” she said.
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