Sabah’s Papar district to gain extra 10 million litres daily as water projects near completion, says Armizan

KOTA KINABALU, June 17 — Two ongoing water infrastructure construction projects in Papar will be operational this year to enable a long-term solution to the issue of clean water supply disruptions in the district is realised.

Papar Member of Parliament Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the commitment was given by the contractor in a special meeting with the Sabah State Water Department (JANS) and related agencies chaired by the Sabah State Secretary (SKN) recently.

The Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living said the Kampung Kabang water intake upgrading project was given a commitment to be completed by July 31, while the Kogopon 2 Water Treatment Plant (WTP) component is targeted to be operational in stages from August to September.

“This step is important to enable an additional clean water supply of five to 10 million litres per day (MLD) to be distributed immediately to the residents before the full operation to treat the additional 80 MLD when the Kogopon WTP Upgrading Project is completed,” he said in a post on his Facebook page today.

As an immediate interim measure to address critical disruptions in high-rise residential areas such as Puncak Gloxinia Condominium in Kinarut, Armizan said JANS would install additional balancing tanks, in addition to the Papar Member of Parliament’s Office placing additional static tanks in each affected block to facilitate clean water delivery.

Explaining further the cause of the crisis, Armizan said faced in Papar and most parts of Sabah stemmed from high dependence on river water sources which were highly vulnerable to extreme weather changes.

He said the long drought phenomenon continued from April to May last year caused saltwater to enter the inlet with high chloride levels, while the heavy rain and flood phase led to high water turbidity (NTU) and increased ammonia levels, which forced the plant operations to be temporarily halted.

In this regard, he stressed the importance of political will in implementing major projects such as reservoirs or water dams that have been planned for the past 20 years in Papar, although sometimes the decision was not popular in the short term for some parties.

“The impact is increasingly felt over time because dependence on river water is not sustainable for treated water supply. Do not repeat past mistakes because ultimately the implications will be greater for the people,” he said.

He also expressed his appreciation to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who approved emergency allocations promptly for this intervention, assisted by the state’s fiscal and financial revenue which are now getting stronger to return the benefits to the community. — Bernama