KUCHING: A new billion-ringgit water treatment plant will be built here to boost the production capacity of water to meet the rising demand from hi-tech industries in Sama Jaya Free Industrial Park and the population growth in Kuching and nearby districts.
The Landeh water treatment plant project, which is estimated to cost RM1.6bil, will produce 400 million litres per day (MLD), according to Sarawak Utility and Telecommunication Minister Datuk Julaihi Narawi.
He said the new plant, known as Plant 5 under Kuching Water Board (KWB), will eventually be upgraded to double its production capacity to 800 MLD.
“The Landeh project is in the pipeline. Construction of the new water treatment plant will take about three years to complete,” he said during his recent visit to the KWB’s Batu Kitang Water Treatment Plant complex along Kuching-Bau Road.
The Batu Kitang water treatment plants, which cater for households, commercial and industrial consumers in the state capital, have a current production capacity of 780 MLD. KWB is currently producing 704 MLD.
To increase supply in the near term, Julaihi said upgrading works are currently being carried out at Plant 2 at Batu Kitang to provide an additional 104 MLD by end-2023.
There is also a plan to upgrade Plant 4 that will add another 100 MLD and increase the KWB’s reserve margin to 11% from the current 4.5%.
“Sama Jaya Free Industrial Park is the largest water consumer in Kuching with a current demand of 22 MLD. The expansion activities of electronic industries located there will result in an additional demand of 21 MLD by the end of this year,” said Julaihi.
Four companies – Taiyo Yuden (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, HGST Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IMM Technology Sdn Bhd and LONGi Kuching Sdn Bhd – are investing a combined RM6.31bil in their expansion projects, according to Sarawak Deputy Premier and International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Taiyo Yuden, one of the pioneer investors in Sama Jaya Free Industrial Park, is investing RM680mil to expand its multi-layer ceramic capacitors manufacturing facility to increase production capacity in Asean under the group’s Medium-Term Management Plan 2025.
HGST, which is owned by Western Digital Corp, is a computer storage devices manufacturer. It is investing RM1bil in its expansion project.
IMM Technology is involved in research, design and manufacture of electro-deposited copper foil while LONGi Kuching is a mono-crystalline solar cell and module manufacturer.
Julaihi said the KWB is also supplying treated water to Bau and Samarahan areas via the Rural Water Supply Department (RWSD), which has increased its purchase to 120 MLD from 100 MLD over the past year.
This is expected to further increase to 186 MLD by 2025.
The amount of water the RWSD now purchased from KWB is about 16% of the latter’s total production.
“We also need to consider the water demand from Samarahan Division. The water grid system at Samarahan is already fully completed and it is now waiting for the supply of water from the Batu Kintang plant,” he added.
The Samarahan Division, which is home to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and several other institutions of higher learning and Sarawak Heart Centre, has seen rapid development in the past decade with the mushrooming of residential homes and commercial buildings.
In Miri in northern Sarawak, Julaihi said the production capacity of raw water supply will be raised to 300 million litres from 180 million litres when a RM266mil water supply development Phase 2 project is completed in July this year.
The project involves the construction of a new raw water transfer system from Batang Baram to Sungai Bakong and two new raw water intakes as well as the installation of twin submarine pipelines and underground cables.
When fully completed and operational, the supply of treated water in the resort city will be able to meet the demand up to 2030.
