Two months of water left
KOTA KINABALU: Although Sabah only has two months of water storage left, the long drought brought about by the northeastern monsoon is expected to end by April, according to Sabah Water Department director Amarjit Singh.
“Sabah has not been spared so we are affected by that (the dry weather),” he told reporters at his office yesterday.
However, Amarjit urged the people not to panic.
Precautionary steps such as cloud seeding is also being considered, he said.
He said Sabah presently has six dams which are scattered in Sandakan, Kudat, Penampang, Tamparuli, Semporna and Lahad Datu.
The water storage in the dams will last for two months.
Amarjit said there are eight rivers in the State that are at critical level and nine are on alert level.
“For the Kota Kinabalu area, we have a problem in Papar now. We have three water treatment plants in Papar and one is not working at all because it has saline intrusion (sea water has seeped into the river due to the lack of river water). It has not been functioning since Feb 1. That plant used to produce 12 mld (million litre daily),” he said.
The other two plants are also in trouble, he said.
“The plant at Limabahau cannot take water from the Limbahau intake and is taking water from Kabang. The production used to be nine mld but is now seven mld,” he said.
The production of the larger plant located in Kogopon had also dropped to 28 mld from 35 mld, he said.
“Basically, Papar is getting 10 mld less, and we have no idea where to get it (water) from,” he said.
The situation has been so critical in Papar that in Buang Sayang, last week, prayers were held at the mosque for rain, he said.
He added that they decided to install a weir last Sunday at the Kogopon River when they noticed a huge drop in water level.
“That enabled us to produce 32 mld and increased the river’s water level,” he said.
He nevertheless urged members of the public in Papar not to panic, stressing that people who need water supplied to them can call the department’s careline at 088326888.
Amarjit also touched on the water supply in Keningau, stating that the department is on alert.
However, he also cited that the water usage in Keningau is not as drastic because kampung folk have alternative water source.
As for the Bingkor water woes highlighted in the newspaper recently, Amarjit said that this involved gravity water supply which was not under the jurisdiction of his department.
Nevertheless, he said that his department was working with the district office which would instruct them to use the tanker to send water supply to the communities facing water shortages.
However, he also admitted that they were limited as they only had several trucks.