Full water supply coverage by 2025 — Rundi
KUCHING: The water supply coverage in Sarawak will be at 100 per cent when all areas have access to clean or safe water supply by 2025.
This will be made possible when the proposed Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme to bring an end to water woes in the state is implemented, said Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
Following this vision, Dr Rundi visited Jemoreng water treatment plant ( WTP) and Kanowit WTP on July 24 and July 25 respectively.
Accompanying him on July 24 were Assistant Minister of Water Supply Datuk Liwan Lagang, Jemoreng assemblyman Dr Juanda Jaya, permanent secretary to the Public Utilities Ministry Dato Alice Jawan, Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department director Chang Kuet Shian, officers from Matu District Office and local community leaders.
“The purpose of the visit was to brief the local community on the projects in Matu and Kanowit districts under the Sarawak Water Supply Grid ProgrammeStressed Areas. Simultaneously, it also aimed to gather feedback from local representatives and community leaders as the feedback would be crucial for the successful implementation of these projects,” according to Dr Rundi through a press release made available yesterday.
Jemoreng WTP is operating at 8.7 million litres per day ( MLD) but has a capacity of 10.5 MLD. With the proposed refurbishment and commissioning of Matu WTP, an additional capacity of three MLD will be available to cater for the increase in demand before the long term water supply from Mukah is ready.
This will benefit at least 12,000 consumers in Matu.
Kanowit WTP is now operating at full capacity of 4.913 MLD.
The purpose of the visit was to brief the local community on the projects in Matu and Kanowit districts under the Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme-Stressed Areas. Simultaneously, it also aimed to gather feedback from local representatives and community leaders as the feedback would be crucial for the successful implementation of these projects.
A substantial volume of treated water for Kanowit District will eventually come from Sibu Water Board (SWB) in 2025.
As such, the feasibility of extending SWB’s water supply limit to the whole area of Kanowit District will be looked into, which will benefit at least 45,000 residents in Kanowit.
“Under the Sarawak Water Supply Grid ProgrammeStressed Areas, there are 11 projects in Matu District costing about RM110.8 million and also 11 projects costing about RM93.3 million for Kanowit District,” Dr Rundi said.
For Matu District, the projects include laying a dedicated water main from Matu WTP to Kuala Matu High Level Tank ( HLT) to address the low water pressure situation faced by the consumers there. In addition, about 15km of asbestos cement (AC) pipes will be replaced with more durable pipes in Matu and Igan areas.
The new pipes will help to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) caused by the leak-prone old AC pipes.
Other proposed projects include retrofitting work to improve the reliability of the present treatment facilities.
The raw water at Jemoreng treatment plant has a coloured water issue which makes it difficult and expensive to treat.
Therefore, the long-term approach is to get the treated water supply from Mukah. The missing link between Jemoreng and Mukah of about 45km of pipelines has also been included in this programme.
Meanwhile for Kanowit District, the projects include laying a dedicated water main, storage reservoir and booster station from Salim WTP along the SibuBintulu road to deliver more water for Nibong Tada and Nanga Tada in Kanowit and especially to new areas along Jalan MajauBatu Luking-Nanga Mam-PoiManalun.
Extension of water mains complete with booster stations are also proposed for Nanga Ngemah and Mapai areas to cater for water supply to areas located at high elevation which are now experiencing low water pressure and also interruptions during festive seasons.
Other proposed projects include retrofitting works to improve the reliability of the present treatment facilities.
For other remote areas, it will be placed under Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department’s Alternative Rural Water Supply (Sawas) programme.
“To meet the increasing demand of Matu and Kanowit area in the next few years, the department will be looking into the option of increasing the plant capacity by deploying new and compact water treatment technologies which will save time and money to install and can be operated within the limited space of the existing plant site.
“With the implementation of all the aforesaid projects, the consumers in Matu will be able to enjoy a safer and more reliable water supply for years to come,” Dr Rundi elaborated.
Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, Minister of Utilities