Rundi speaking to reporters at the press conference. Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Dec 8): A total of RM18 billion has been put up in the 12th Malaysia Plan for the implementation of water supply projects in the state, said Minister of Utilities Datuk Seri Stephen Rundi Utom.
These water supply projects include the Sarawak Water Supply Master Plan and Water Grid, the extension of pipelines to communities that can be connected to existing water supply networks and the implementation of the Sarawak Rural Water Supply (Sawas) programme for rural areas.
“To achieve 100 per cent water coverage in the state, we are looking at 2025. It can be later due to unforeseen circumstances that we may be facing, like rain and the wide size of Sarawak.
“We are looking at 2025, that is our target, and if there are a lot of challenges we are facing then it will be 2026,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ministry and two training institutions Tuesday.
Rundi pointed out that before a full-fledged water grid supply system can be implemented for Sarawak, there are some matters to be addressed.
“A number of areas that have received a water grid supply system still experience interruptions, low water pressure, pipe burst and so on. We have to address all of these and once we have addressed all these water-stressed supply areas, we are going to go all the way to 2025.
“The consultant has briefed the ministry and also the chief minister and we have to, along the line, finetune what needs to be done. What we learnt from this is that we that we have to have very good infrastructure to fulfill 100 per cent water coverage for whole Sarawak,” he said.
Rundi noted that is why there is Sawas, an idea that came from the world-recognised Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares).
He explained that Sawas is a community-based programme that should be able to be managed by the community.
“From five pilot projects we have learnt from there that there are projects that are too sophisticated and too complicated for the community to manage. We have to choose which of the project is manageable by the community.
“Nonetheless the Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) has been entrusted to train the locals, those who are able to manage and maintain this programme. It is very critical for certain areas where a water supply system still not fully implemented yet,” he said.
Also present were the ministry’s acting permanent secretary Dr Martin Anyi, Water Supply Division director Cho Kwong Ming, Akademi Binaan Malaysia Sarawak Region chief executive officer Abdul Rahman Ahmad, and Sarawak Skills’ Executive Director Hallman Sabri.
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