Jeffrey: Learn from Penang on water management
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah can learn from Penang how to better manage water supply, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
He said Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA) is successful in water supply management in Penang, which does not have many rivers and has to rely on the Sungai Muda Kedah for raw water sources but is still able to better manage the water supply in Penang.
“This is what we need to learn and emulate in Sabah which has many rivers,” he said during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Yayasan Sabah College of Technology (KTYS), Sabah State Water Department (JANS) and PBA Resources Sdn Bhd on Friday to introduce a water management course.
“The decision to work with the Penang Water Supply Corporation opens up opportunities for KTYS and JANS to share experiences and also learn a little bit from PBA’s success in water supply management in Penang,” he added.
According to Jeffrey who is also the State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, he believes that the problem of water management in Sabah is not only caused by the infrastructure that needs to be built and upgrade its standards,
This is what we need to learn and emulate in Sabah which has many rivers. The decision to work with the Penang Water Supply Corporation opens up opportunities for KTYS and JANS to share experiences and also learn a little bit from PBA’s success in water supply management in Penang.
Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan
but also from the issue of human resource efficiency that needs to be improved.
Jeffrey said the MoU shows the commitment and seriousness of KTYS in contributing to the improvement of the quality of knowledge and skills of JANS employees.
He said the state government welcomes the initiative of KTYS to constantly develop new programmes and courses, especially in specific fields such as water management.
“This collaboration with JANS makes KTYS the first in Sabah to implement a programme with this specialisation,” he said.
“JANS will give a high commitment in helping to make this course programme a success by providing existing plants and dams as a location to carry out any practical training for the participants that will be carried out.
“Another interesting thing in the programme is that the opportunity given to retirees or future retirees from JANS to help them in generating additional income,” he added.
Jeffrey also said that there are efforts made by KTYS to develop new courses in the field of petroleum or oil and gas to train Sabah’s human capital to venture especially in the field of upstream petroleum.
“This is necessary considering that Sabah produces approximately 60 percent of Malaysia’s crude oil which is worth RM35 billion to RM40 billion every year.
“The Sabah government and I welcome and will support all efforts to develop Sabah’s human capital especially in strategic industries that can advance Sabah,” he said.