Increasing plant capacity to solve water woes in Lachau
SIBU: The government has been trying to temporarily modify the Pantu Water Treatment Plant ( Pantu WTP) to increase its capacity in meeting the needs of the surrounding areas including Lachau. However the temporary modification could not be completed in time before Gawai Dayak, Assistant Water Supply Minister Liwan Lagang told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said Pantu WTP had been operating at a capacity of 1.5 million litres per day ( MLD) – above its capacity of capacity of 1.3 MILD since 2015 – to cope with the increasing needs.
“The Pantu WTP is being modified to increase capacity temporarily while waiting for approval of its proposed upgrade under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development in the Third Rolling Plan,” said Liwan.
He said the Rural Water Supply Department was fully aware of the problem and was determined to resolve the water shortage problem in Lachau as soon as possible.
Liwan was responding to complaints of frequent interruption of piped water supply in Lachau.
Residents there were frustrated by dry taps, which had been occurring since more than a week before the Gawai Dayak celebration.
Due to the lack of water, the public toilet at Lachau, which is a busy bazaar, was forced to close causing much inconvenience not only to the local residents, but also the travellers stopping over and shoppers there.