KOTA KINABALU, May 4 — The water supply disruptions around the Sepanggar parliament constituency, including at University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), are reduced following the continuous efforts of the state government to overcome the problem, said Sepanggar Member of Parliament Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

Mustapha said the complaints of water problems from the residents had reduced.

He said only certain areas, especially those at the end of the pipe system, are still facing water disruptions.

“The water problem is getting better, complaints have decreased even though there are still some ‘hot spot’ areas facing problems, but overall, the water disturbance has decreased.

“The solution to this problem actually depends on the efforts of the Sabah State Water Department (JANS). If there is a complaint, we will send it directly to JANS and so far the response has been very good,” he said at a press conference at Tanjung Seafood, Plaza Tanjung Aru, here yesterday.

He said among the ‘hot spot’ areas are around Kingfisher in Likas, including UMS.

Meanwhile, when asked on the efforts taken to deal with the water problem at UMS, Mustapha, who is also the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, said that the six tube wells that were built using the allocation of RM3 million that was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, are in operation and supplying water to the student residential colleges.

He said there is only minor piping work that need to be done to the student residential colleges for the water supply to function fully.

Mustapha however said that the completion of the project that started last January was not the final solution to the water problem at the university.

“The tube wells only meet a small part of the water needs at UMS. It is only an alternative, not a solution. We have to understand this because we also depend on the water supplied from JANS.

“UMS needs five million liters per day (lpd) of water for about 20,000 users on the campus, but the tube wells are only able to supply about one lpd, so it needs four more lpd,” he said.

In addition to the RM3 million allocation from the Prime Minister, Mustapha said the Ministry of Higher Education added another RM2 million to deal with water problems at UMS for the welfare of the students.

He said the government is also making an effort to solve the water supply problem from the water treatment plant in Tuaran. — The Borneo Post

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/05/04/sepanggar-facing-less-water-supply-disruption-following-sabah-govts-efforts-says-mp/132464