By Olivia Miwil - October 15, 2021 @ 6:09pm
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah and the federal government should have some direction when it comes to the construction of the Papar dam.
Sabah Water Department director Edward Lingkapo said the project was initially part of the Kota Kinabalu Masterplan outlined 30 years ago.
This meant it was neither suggested by the past nor the present state government, but it still needed to be given due attention for the state capital's progress.
"At present, the water supply (here) is about 200 million litres per day, but the demand is over 500 million litres/day. We are about 30 to 35 per cent behind this demand.
"The dam has to be constructed urgently to continue with the progress of the state capital," he said, adding that the cost would go up further should there be any more delays in the project.
He was talking during a Webinar titled "Federal 12th Malaysia Plan: Addressing the Water Supply Issue in Sabah", organised by the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) in collaboration with the Sabah Works Ministry and state Water Department.
Edward said, based on the latest developments in regards to the project, the dam was supposed to have been completed in 2015 at a cost of RM2 billion.
Due to the changes in government and public protest which disrupted its progress, he estimated the project will cost RM5 billion.
The study on the project was expected to be completed next year.
Edward suggested a long-term masterplan on water supply for Sabah.
He said such a masterplan needed to be mapped out and endorsed to ensure there was no disruption to continuous power supply for all.
Meanwhile, Edward said he was sceptical of the federal government's target to have a 98 per cent coverage of clean water for the whole of Sabah by 2025.
He said his opinion was due to the state's geography as well as challenges posed by the condition of roads and electricity infrastructure especially in Sabah's rural areas.
As of now, the total coverage of clean water is at 79 per cent with 100 per cent accessibility in urban areas and 54 per cent in rural areas.
He said among the challenges include the rapid industrial development such as the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Sipitang, KKIP Tuaran and Palm Oil Industrial Cluster in Lahad Datu that would need more water supply.
Rapid development and flooding have also led to polluted river water, which affects the treated water at some of its plants, he said.
Old piping systems and outdated technology, as well as high non-revenue water wastage also contributed to poor water distribution services.
"We need funds to be continuously injected from the federal government. We need at least two Malaysia plans to ensure our programmes achieve their target (of clean water accessibility for all)," he said.
Meanwhile, the state Water Department has suggested seven programmes requiring RM11 billion to rectify water problems in Sabah.
Among the seven are the construction of the Papar and Tawau dams; formulating a Raw Water Source and Water Supply Masterplan; building and upgrading more plants and off-river storage; presedimentation facilities for 22 treatment plants; and to reduce Non Revenue Water.
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