KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Water Department has been told to attend to calls made to its careline amid dry taps and low water pressure across the state capital over the last few months.
The reminder was issued by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya to the department which has come under fire from consumers here.
Shahelmey, who is also state Works Minister, pointed out that the public wanted and needed to receive proper communication on what the department was doing.
He said the people would naturally be interested to know about issues that affect their lives, hence the necessity for agencies and departments under the ministry to keep them informed.
“The people need to be aware of what we are doing, including the challenges and problems we are facing, so they can understand (what we are doing),” he said in his mandate speech to ministry staff here on Tuesday (March 14) night.
Pointing out that he was not blaming or criticising anyone, he said many residents had complained about water supply problems particularly in the heavily populated Kingfisher Park in Likas here and Manggatal, located near the city’s outskirts.
“I was (even) asked by reporters when I was in the Tawau district the night before (March 13) on whether its (the Water Department) careline was down as no one was picking up the calls,” Shahelmey said.
SM Muthu, a Kingfisher Park resident, said residents get frustrated when water supply to the area is cut even though it is not listed in any shutdown notice.
“When we call the department, they will say the shutdown was due to work being done at the water treatment plant but they can’t say how long it will take.
“What’s the use of having a hotline then? We need this information so we can prepare ourselves,” he said when contacted on Wednesday (March 15).
Muthu also said residents had attempted to get the department or its director to explain why there were frequent water disruptions and low pressure but their efforts had been futile.
“The people have been kept in the dark. That’s why they have become very angry and demanded that the director step down.
“We accept why a shutdown has to be done sometimes and we can’t always blame the department because it may not have the funds.
“(But) the department must push its staff to work. If the people in charge can’t, then bring in someone who can actually do it – either shape up or ship out,” he said.
To a question about the "inoperational" careline, Shahelmey said it was mainly caused by a manpower shortage as well as an ongoing campaign to terminate supply to consumers with unpaid bills.
This could result in the careline operators being swamped by calls checking on account status, to settle bills or get water supply reconnected, he added.
Shahelmey also said his ministry had to look at which works to prioritise due to the limited infrastructure development allocation from both Putrajaya and the state government.
“The allocation to maintain federal roads is only RM17.5mil for the first six months (of the year) which is not enough.
“This is why we are getting more funds from the Federal Government for infrastructure,” he said, adding that they were also looking at bringing in foreign investors to develop infrastructure in the state.
Shahelmey said the Sabah government has also given the green light for the Water Department to hire new workers to address its manpower issues.
“(But) we expect new staff to only come in from June as this cannot be done overnight because of (the hiring) process,” he said.
