KUCHING: The Sarawak government is set to take over 79 federal-funded water supply projects costing some RM3.47bil statewide to resolve longstanding implementation delays.
According to Sarawak Utility and Telecommunication Minister Datuk Seri Julaihi Narawi, the federal government had agreed in principle to transfer these water projects to Sarawak.
The state government is currently waiting for the final details from the federal government’s Finance Ministry.
Sarawak is seeking full authority to implement the transferred federal projects under its existing financial and procurement procedures if the takeover is finalised, Juhaili said during his visit to the Puncak Borneo water project site in Penrissen near here recently.
The federal-funded Puncak Borneo water project was approved back in 2016, but then, still has yet to be implemented.
To address the delay that affects water supply to the people, the Sarawak government proceeded using state funds to implement the Puncak Borneo project.
The water system currently produces six million litres per day (MLD) of treated water, and can be upgraded to eight MLD, if needed.
Julaihi noted the delayed federal-funded projects had created gaps in Sarawak’s water supply network, especially in rural areas where access to treated water remains a key development strategy. The takeover of the implementation of these delayed federal projects is to strengthen Sarawak’s overall water distribution network.
Currently, Julaihi said the Sarawak government is implementing about 360 water supply projects, including new water treatment plants, with overall completion rate of 93%. Approximately RM7bil in state funds have been allocated to finance these projects.
In 2018, the Sarawak government took a bold move with an initial allocation of RM2.8bil to fund the implementation of projects under the Sarawak Water Supply Grid Programme for Stressed Areas masterplan.
The allocation was later raised to RM4bil for a total of 304 projects, out of which 259 projects (85%) have been completed, with 35 projects currently in various implementation stages.
The programme covers several main scopes, including the upgrading works for 15 water treatment plants, 42 booster pumps and 58 high-level water tanks, as well as distribution pipes covering 1,969km in length.
With the completion of most of these projects, the coverage of treated water supply in rural areas has been increased to 70.5% from 61.9% in 2018.
Currently, the coverage of water supply statewide is 85.4%, Julaihi told the state assembly session last month.
He said another major project involves the replacement of 2,742km-long ageing and worn out water pipes across Sarawak to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) at a current rate of 43% which affected stable water supply.
The ageing pipes will be replaced in stages until 2030 under an allocation of RM1.08bil. With new water pipes laid, the target is to bring down Sarawak’s NRW to 25% by 2030.
According to Julaihi, projected water demand in Sarawak will increase to 2,400 MLD by 2030 from the current 2,060 MLD.
Sarawak will require a reserve margin of at least 20% of the capacity of its existing water treatment plants to ensure supply security.
