Depts ordered to address water wastage
PENAMPANG: The Water Department here has been asked to investigate government establishments that are lackadaisical in their efforts to address water wastage within their own departments.
Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said at the 2015 World Water Day celebration held at the Penampang Cultural Centre near here yesterday that the claim made by Water Department deputy director Teo Chee Kong in his presentation concerning the attitude of some government departments, including schools, in addressing their water wastage problem, was quite discouraging.
In his presentation, Teo showed leaking pipes and broken taps that were left in the state of disrepair by some government departments and schools.
“This is serious if that is the case,” Pairin stressed.
“It appears that there is a lackadaisical and an uncaring attitude to look after the water that was provided to you. So now I am going to direct the director and deputy director of the Water Department to look into it and investigate,” said Pairin.
Teo, who was also present during the interview, immediately said that he was following up on the matter and the department had already written to the various parties, including schools, to address their water wastage issue.
The non-revenue water (NRW) in Sabah presently stands at 52 percent while the non-revenue water in Kota Kinabalu itself is 39 percent.
In his presentation, Teo mentioned that the community has forgotten the history of Sabah when it did not have water.
“The present perception is that there is plenty of cheap and available water,” he said.
He added that the people must know how much water they use in order to find ways to reduce their unnecessary water consumption through, for example, leakages of their piping systems at home.
“A drop of water per second is equivalent to wasting 2,400 gallons of water per year,” Teo reminded.
Pairin also commented on the need to look after the State’s water catchment areas.
“We want to protect our water catchments because they will supply water to our dams and reservoirs,” he said.
He added that the relevant agencies must stop anyone whose operations disturb the stability of the State’s water catchment areas.
Also present was Penampang district off icer Luvita Koisun.