A file photo of Sares supplying to remote Long Pilah at Telang Usan.
KUCHING (June 15): The Sarawak government, through the Ministry of Utilities and its implementing agencies, has targeted to achieve full state-wide coverage for water and electricity supplies by 2025, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.
He revealed these implementing agencies comprised Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB), Kuching Water Board, Sibu Water Board, LAKU Management Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Energy Berhad
“For both water and electricity, short to long term initiatives under the Sarawak Water Supply Master Plan, State Water Grid Programme and Sarawak Rural Electrification Masterplan were implemented since 2018,” he said after chairing the State Utilities Task Force project monitoring meeting on Sunday.
He elaborated that the Sarawak Water Grid Supply System – Stressed Areas funded under Projek Rakyat will improve the current water supply situations in Sarawak and aimed to bring an end to water woes in Sarawak.
Under the Projek Rakyat for the water programme, a total of RM4 billion was allocated for 321 water supply projects aimed at resolving the water supply reliability issues in water stressed areas and providing potable water supply to those without access to this basic amenity.
He said as of now, 165 projects were completed while the remaining 156 projects are expected to fully complete by 2023.
He added the completion of all these projects will minimise immediate water supply issues in the water stressed areas by increasing the volume of treated water delivered to the consumers and improving the water supply pressure.
Construction of three high level tanks addressing water issues in Samariang, Kuching.
On rural electrification in the state, he said an amount of RM2.37 billion was allocated under the Sarawak government’s Projek Rakyat Accelerated Rural Electrification Masterplan.
He explained this includes Rural Power Supply Scheme (RPSS) that extends and enhances the main grid infrastructure to rural areas with new substations built as power injection points and allows for subsequent Rural Electrification Scheme (RES) Last Mile connections to localised areas for eventual supply into domestic homes.
Since 2019, five substations have been completed and commissioned at Batang Ai, Pakan, Julau, Ng Ngungun, and Sebauh while five more are currently under construction at Tatau, Kanowit, Dalat, Sangan and Belaga.
Another two more substations will begin construction at Long Lama and Ba Kelalan after land acquisitions are completed.
He pointed out for villages or longhouses too distant to be connected to these utility grid-systems or without the proper road access for constructing water and electricity connections, stand-alone Sarawak Alternative Water Supply System (Sawas) and Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares) are implemented.
These stand-alone off-grid systems enable the rakyat in the remote areas to enjoy these amenities without having to wait for the grid system, which will take a longer time as it depends on the accessibility to these areas.
“On rural coverage for these basic amenities, the overall water supply coverage in Sarawak is estimated at 83.4 per cent with rural water supply coverage at 66.5 per cent. Sarawak’s overall coverage for electricity is 98 per cent with rural electricity supply coverage at 95 per cent.
‘The government is committed to achieving full coverage for these utilities by 2025 despite facing many challenges to reach the remote rural areas with limited or no proper accessibility, which is further compounded by the current Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the implementation of many projects and delaying their completion,” said Awang Tengah.
He also said the Sarawak government, through the Ministry of Utilities Sarawak and its implementing agencies, is committed to delivering these initiatives under Projek Rakyat to ensure the people of Sarawak have access to clean water supply and 24-hour electricity supply.
On a related matter, he explained that the State Utilities Task Force meets regularly to monitor and facilitate water and electricity supply projects and oversee the implementation progresses to ensure they run smoothly and expeditiously.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the meeting was held virtually. Also present at the meeting were Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom and assistant ministers Datuk Liwan Lagang (Rural Electricity) and Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi (Water Supply).
Deputy State Secretary (Socio-Economic Transformation) Dato Sri Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, permanent secretary of Ministry of Utilities Dato Alice Jawan and senior officers from State Financial Secretary’s office, Economic Planning Unit Sarawak and the respective implementing agencies also participated in the meeting.