SANDAKAN – The Sabah government appears to have no direction and is at a “dead end” in trying to solve the state’s water supply issues, said Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
Bung, who is former Sabah works minister, said he raised the matter at Parliament last Wednesday because the state government had not proposed a solution to solve the pressing problem.
“Water supply in Sabah is 100% under the jurisdiction of the state government. I talked about the Sabah government appearing to be at a dead end because there has been no solution; no short-term, medium-term or long-term plan.
“There have been no suggestions or plans given to the people to make them confident that treated water supply can be supplied in Sabah,” he said.
Bung said this when met at the Sabah Umno Tour-Gerak17 event in Sg Manila today.
He said that during his stint as state minister in charge of water supply (2020-2023), he had completed a thorough working paper to be submitted to the cabinet, which included detailed information about a step-by-step plan to solve the state’s water supply problems.
The working paper concluded that the Sabah government needed about RM23 billion to RM27 billion to solve all water woes in the state.
“If we only get RM2 billion or RM3 billion, then maybe only less than 10% of problems can be solved. So, I see that this is a fact, not a joke. That is why I say that the Sabah government has lost its way in managing the water problem here,” he said.
Sabah’s water supply problems have been a growing issue over the past several years, with many residential areas, commercial lots, and even schools and Universiti Malaysia Sabah affected by water cuts and scheduled rationing.
This has compounded other problems in rural areas of Sabah, involving a high number of villages that have yet to receive treated water supply.
Since September last year, the federal government has allocated about RM700 million to solve water supply problems in the state. Out of the total, RM300 million came in the form of loans, RM163.55 million under the Fourth Rolling Plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan, as well as another RM200 million for four new projects.
The supply of water in Sabah falls under the jurisdiction of the state government, and so Putrajaya can only provide assistance in the form of loans and smaller grants to execute projects.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof in the Dewan Rakyat recently, the overall allocation for Sabah’s water supply is RM2.6 billion in the 12th Malaysia Plan, including direct funding and loans.
“The priority of the projects is decided by the Sabah government. Currently, we have started four new projects (RM300 million), and 11 projects are in progress.
“Out of the 11 projects, the main issue is the upgrading of the Telibong water treatment plant, which, upon completion, would solve 80% of the water supply problem from Tuaran to Kota Kinabalu, including Universiti Malaysia Sabah,” he said.
Meanwhile, when asked to comment about Sabah Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya’s statement on the issue recently, Bung said it was merely “okay”.
Shahelmey denied Bung’s assertions that the situation in Sabah was not a “crisis”, highlighting water shortages caused by climate change and project delays.
“Crisis or no crisis, what is important is that the people of Sabah have the right to receive a clean water supply,” Bung said. – March 9, 2024