Construction of four tube wells in UMS ongoing, says Deputy Minister

Mustapha dotting a lion head during a Chinese New Year event in Inanam.

KOTA KINABALU: Works on four of the six tube wells to reduce the water supply problem in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has begun, says Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

The Deputy Higher Education Minister said the two contractors engaged in implementing the construction had started drilling this week on the four locations identified for the tube wells.

He said he was updated on the project's progress so he could notify the Ministry's meeting this Monday (Jan 22), and subsequently, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir will report to the Federal Cabinet.

"The drilling work on the four tube wells is being actively done," he said after attending a Chinese New Year event at Inanam on Saturday (Jan 20).

Mustapha said the Implementation and Coordination Unit under the Prime Minister's Department had also visited the tube well sites.

The Sepanggar MP added they will be updated on the progress weekly.

The water supply issue at UMS garnered national attention when videos of its students holding a small picket and singing a song to voice their frustration over the water woes to Zambry when he visited the campus here on Jan 8 went viral.

Zambry then announced that UMS would receive an additional RM2mil to undertake short-term projects to alleviate the water supply problem on its campus.

This was on top of a RM3mil allocation announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fund the internal water resource supply innovation projects in UMS last May.

UMS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Md Mansur said the RM3mil allocated to the varsity was being used accordingly, adding they were meant to construct six tube wells and a new piping system.

Explaining further on the project, Mustapha said the contractors were told to complete it by this March to ensure the students could obtain an alternative water source besides the supply from the Sabah Water Department.

"However, I must stress that the tube well project is only short-term as the state government and the water department are working on the (overall Sabah) water supply issue, particularly in Kota Kinabalu.

"Hence, the supply in UMS depends on the water from the water department, and for that reason, we hope the department and the state Works Ministry can expedite work to stabilise the water supply situation soon," he said.

Meanwhile, Mustapha urged the Education Ministry to pay attention to the dilapidated schools in the Sepanggar constituency.

He said 12 primary schools had been identified as dilapidated, which made them unsafe, and these facilities needed immediate repairs.

"We previously visited Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Darau, which was also dilapidated, and the Ministry has responded to this, but there are 12 other schools in similar condition in Sepanggar that must be addressed," he said.