THE Water Department recently dealt with 80 illegal connections fashioned to three distribution mains in the northern region of the State Capital.
A spokesman for the agency said the connections were discovered during a week-long exercise to crack down on pilferage which was carried out after the Hari Raya public holidays.
“Forty-seven plastic pipes were found attached to the main pipe near a bridge on Jalan Sulaman,” he said.
“Our enforcement personnel identified 26 points through which water was being siphoned off at the section of the bridge which was not far from the Jalan Sulaman vegetable and fish market.”
A trail of dubious plastic pipes was found along this path leading to Kg Bahagia behind the 1Borneo Hypermall.
The remaining 21 connections were found at the section of the bridge near the drive-thru for a fast food outlet in this part of Manggatal, according to him.
He said 23 plastic pipes were discovered affixed to a distribution main near Kg Brunai in the Sepanggar area, while 10 more were fastened to another main servicing the One Sulaman commercial centre.
The spokesman said the contact points along the body of these distribution pipes were welded shut, after illegal connections had been removed.
“This pilferage contributed to the water problems at University Apartments1 (UA1), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Ujana Kingfisher.”
He said anyone who made “an unlawful connection of a service pipe to a public mains or to another service pipe serving another premises” could be deemed to have contravened the Water Supply Enactment 2003.
“Offenders risk having to settle a fine for as much RM100,000, serve a jail term of up to one year or both.”
In cases where the wrongdoing was committed by a corporate body, he said the management could be held liable for a fine of up to RM500,000.
The spokesman said the Department was in the midst of brainstorming on how best to counter the pilferage.
“We have a potential plan for overcoming this problem and are just waiting to receive an allocation before putting it in action.”
JACQY, who occupies a third floor unit at UA1, was unhappy about the difficulties she had experienced in receiving tap water at her apartment.
She said she had wearied of contacting the agency and the management company (MC) for UA1 about these problems.
At one stage, she vented her frustrations to one of her neighbours and was taken aback by what he told her.
“My friend had phoned the Department,” she said. “The person who took his call told him that the supply meant for the apartments had temporarily been diverted to Jalan Sulaman.
Jacqy said her neighbour was made to understand that the Department had given priority to UMS as a VVIP had been due to visit the campus.
“All of us at UA1 and the surrounding areas were made to suffer without a supply just to give this very, very important person a good impression of the water situation at the university.”
A Department staff in the midst of welding to shut the contact points on this distribution main after the illegal connections had been dismantled.
A MC spokesman said its staff had been wracking their brains on how best to handle the water situation at UCA1 as the incoming supply to the property was periodically disrupted.
On numerous occasions, the MC had observed that the water in the pipes after the meter would vanish for hours on end, according to him.
“Last week, we lost the main incoming supply for 15 hours and 40 minutes between 11pm on Wednesday and 2.40pm on Thursday,” he said.
“The main pipe ran dry again from 11pm on Thursday till 11.45pm on Friday. We had no water for 24 hours and 45 minutes in this instance.”
He said the reserves in its ground tanks had dwindled down so drastically by Friday afternoon that the metal lining at the bottom of these receptacles could be seen.
“We have nine ground tanks and one elevated tank to cater to the needs of our occupants.”
UA1 comprised about 1,424 units spread out over 26 blocks, according to him, with each block being three storeys-high.
The spokesman said the management had been keeping the Department apprised of the supply woes at the property.
On top of updating the agency about these problems, the MC had also taken to controlling the flow of water from the tanks to those staying there.
The spokesman said tap water to the individual units was generally stopped between midnight and 4am in order to fill these receptacles.
“Occupants can usually avail themselves of a supply at every other time but we couldn’t maintain this schedule towards the middle of April.”
He said water was released for an hour and 45 minutes last Thursday morning and again for three hours at night.
The occupants next received some water two days later for four hours from 11am, according to him.
“During the lengthy disruption, we asked the Department twice if it could have a tanker send us some water.” He said both requests went unfulfilled.
The Department spokesman said its staff went to UA1, shortly after being informed by the media about what had been happening at the property.
“They confirmed that the supply was reaching the bulk-meter,” he said. “The strength of water, at the time, was deemed to be acceptable.”
