KOTA KINABALU: Building coastal reservoirs will be a cheaper alternative for the Sabah government to resolve the state’s water woes compared to constructing traditional dams, says a former MP.Former Putatan MP Awang Husaini Sahari said a coastal reservoir has no or very little adverse effects on the environment.
“It has the advantage of being less expensive to build and maintain than a dam for the same amount of water storage. Also, it would not entail flooding a big amount of land or relocating people,” he said in a statement.
The PKR vice-president was responding to a recent statement by International Water Association members Datuk Dr Amarjit Singh and Lim Sin Poh pertaining to the implementation of coastal reservoirs in Sabah.
Amarjit and Lim said coastal dams would be a two-pronged approach towards resolving not only the water needs but also mitigating the state’s perennial flood problems.
Awang Husaini agreed with the proposal, saying that blocking the river’s flow with a dam would lead to soil erosion, a biologically dead river, in addition to upsetting the region’s natural equilibrium and destroying agriculture and its cultural legacy.
A dam, he added, might create micro earthquakes due to increased water pressure which would be bad for local inhabitants and plants.
“Several water supply alternatives have been raised by experts over the years. Dr Felix Tongkul, a former UMS lecturer and expert on water catchments, has elaborated on sustainable water reservoirs.“Coastal reservoirs are a solution for water supply shortages and have been constructed in China, South Korea, Hong Kong and other countries,” Awang Husaini said.
The chairman of Suria Strategic Energy Resources also lent support to a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Ali, who said that the state government has to make a firm decision now on development projects that could resolve the perennial water woes in Sabah.
Awang Husaini also said that the state government should seriously consider doing a comparison study between a conventional dam and a coastal reservoir.
A coastal reservoir is the best place to collect rainwater because unlike a traditional dam that depends on precipitation, all rainwater ends up in the sea, he added.“I think coastal reservoir technology could be the best solution for sustainable water supply not only in the west coast but the whole of Sabah, in line with the concept of Malaysia Madani,” he said.
