Minister: Some still have no access to clean water

PUTRAJAYA: About 3% of the country’s population do not have access to clean water, and a lot of them live in the interior of Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak, says Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

“As a country that aspires to be a developed nation, we need to ensure every citizen has access to clean water. Water is a human right.

“The Government is seeking the cooperation of all, especially the private sector, so that together we can think of a way to provide water to communities that do not have access to this basic necessity,” he said after opening the Malaysia Water Resources Management Forum 2018 here.

Dr Xavier said the forum themed “Sharing Water” was timely as it came after the merging of all water-related portfolios under his ministry.

“Now that we are fully in charge of the water industry, we can manage water resources better.

“At present, we see that 90% of our rainwater flows back into the rivers and the sea. We have to learn how to harvest this precious commodity,” he said.

His ministry, he said, had embarked on a programme on rainwater harvesting and hoped that the private sector could work hand in hand with it.

“We cannot expect remote communities to not have access to clean water all the time, so we must find alternative sources,” he said.

The minister cited run-off water harvesting as another possible alternative source of water.

He noted that education was another aspect that was important in preserving water resources.

“We have failed in educating about water conservation. If we want to preserve water, we must learn how to conserve water and this can only be done through education in schools.

“The ministry is planning to increase educational programmes to teach our youngsters the importance of water conservation, and this will change Malaysians’ attitude towards water usage,” said Dr Xavier.