Banggi water situation not as bad as portrayed

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is committed to looking after the people’s wellbeing during the drought season, including supplying treated water to villagers at Banggi Island who are facing water shortage.

Minister with Special Tasks, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, said despite the dry spell on the island due to El Nino, villagers were carrying out their daily activities as usual and the situation was not as bad as portrayed in the social media.

He said this after visiting Banggi island together with State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman, Banggi assemblyman Datuk Mijul Unaini, Kudat district officer Sapdin Ibrahim and other government officers yesterday morning.

“We went to several villages like Lok Tohou, Kampung Limbuak, Kampung Padang and talked to the villagers and community leaders. We found that despite the dry spell the island is experiencing due to El Nino, the villagers are carrying out their daily activities as usual. It is not that bad as portrayed in the social media,” he said.

In the Banggi water treatment plant, Teo said they were briefed that it has a capacity of four million litres daily (MLD). On normal days, the demand for treated water is about two MLD.

As the catchment is drying up, he said the volume of treated water went down to 0.2 to 0.3 MLD, whereupon the Water Department stopped distribution via pipes but opened a station for consumers to collect water from the treatment plant.

“In fact, they were forced to shut down operation for seven days due to water shortage.”

Since the closure of the plant’s operation, Teo said the Kudat district office had been supplying 40,000 litres of treated water daily shipped from Kudat twice a day.

The people can collect water at a temporary water station near the Karakit jetty for free.

Meanwhile, Teo said the Kudat District Natural Disaster Management Committee will immediately set up several more such water stations at strategic locations for the convenience of the villagers, especially those who do not have their own transport.

He went on to say that the rainfall two days ago had brought some water into the catchment, whereby the plant is presently producing 0.3 MLD.

“Hopefully there will be more rain in the weeks to come.”

Though the pipe water distribution network has covered more than half of the Banggi population, Teo said well water and gravity water were still quite commonly used.

“In our visit to the villages, we inspected wells and gravity water tanks. We noticed that the water level was comparatively lower than usual, but all serve their functions well. In some kampungs, almost every house has their own well.”