Speed up water supply solutions with extra allocation — KKCCCI

KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) president Datuk Michael Lui described the approval of an additional allocation of RM100 million by the Ministry of Economy to resolve water supply in Sabah as a positive move.

Lui mentioned that the federal government had allocated RM300 million as a loan in September 2023, RM163.55 million under the Fourth Rolling Plan, four new projects costing RM200 million, with a total of more than RM700 million to solve the water supply problems in Sabah.

KKCCCI believes that these allocations will accelerate the short-term water supply solutions implemented by the state government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Hajiji Noor.

“We urge the Sabah state government to implement various water supply project plans as soon as possible through relevant agencies. The people of Sabah hope that the government can quickly solve the water shortage problem in the short term.

Prolonged water shortages have seriously affected our daily life. This is an immediate problem faced by Sabah and the people, and it must be solved as soon as possible. The government must find good solutions to ensure normal water supply,” said Lui in a statement on Thursday.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department predicts that the hot weather in Sabah will continue until June, which may lead to a serious shortage of water supply.

“Since the state government was alerted that the water dams in the state could only meet the water demand for next three months, it should have made preparations for the hot climate and tried its best to avoid water supply problems,” he added.

Lui supports making good use of funds allocated by the federal government to Sabah to repair and upgrade water supply equipment, including increasing dam storage, replacing water pumps in water treatment plants, repairing and replacing water pipes.

“We must seriously look into the problems of non-revenue water losses, water theft, and repairing of broken water and underground water pipes.”

He added that the people do not want to see the relevant agencies continue to take negative measures such as expanding water rationing areas and times to resolve the shortage.

“The government must solve the problem of water supply shortage once and for all, and not let the water supply crisis continue to worsen and seriously affect our lives in Sabah,” he said.