KOTA KINABALU: Eighteen projects have been identified to take off under a special RM320mil allocation by the federal government to resolve Sabah's water woes, says Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
He said some of the identified water projects are expected to take off in the first quarter of this year once the state Water Department and the Finance Ministry complete the procurement exercise.
He said the projects identified were focused on reducing water pressure issues, including replacing old pipes, repairing faulty pumps, upgrading booster pumps and replacing generators.
"We hope to recover up to 10 million litres per day (MLD)," he told reporters attending a ‘iftar’ event held at Pacific Sutera here.
He said the federal funds would complement the infrastructure projects already underway to overcome water shortages faced in the state.
The Phase 2 of the Telibong project, which provides a production capacity of 80 million litres of water per day will be channeled through newly installed pipelines that would help alleviate Kota Kinabalu water shortage issues by the middle of the year.
"We hope to stabilise water demand and meet the various new developments in Kota Kinabalu," he said, adding that neighbouring Putatan district will also get a boost in supplies with 5MLD Urban Water Supply Scheme in Kasigui that will be ready in May.
He also said that with the Non Revenue Water (NRW) reduction programmes, they expect to get an additional 10MLD through water distribution efficiency across the state.
