KUCHING: Sarawak will explore the potential to export water as a commodity to neighbouring countries which need it, says Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
The Premier said the state was planning ahead for the next move in its water management.
"We have many rivers. We have to manage our river water through technology, including for purification. And it will become a commodity for us to export to countries that need water, particularly our neighbours," he told reporters on Wednesday (July 15).
Abang Johari said this after opening the Borneo International Water and Wastewater Exhibition and Conference here.
He said one of Sarawak's major rivers could potentially be dedicated for this purpose, with its own plant to treat the water for export.
"In this way, we don't waste the natural resources Sarawak has been blessed with. We can use technology to share our river water with others," he said.
Abang Johari also said negotiations were ongoing to consider water as an export commodity.
However, he said this would only be implemented once Sarawak has achieved full water supply coverage by 2030.
"Let us give water to all Sarawakians first. This is what comes next," he said.
In his speech earlier, Abang Johari said Sarawak was developing an extensive main water grid to improve water supply connectivity and reliability.
He said this was complemented by the Sarawak Alternative Water Supply (Sawas) initiative serving remote communities inaccessible by water grid infrastructure, in support of full coverage by 2030.
Sarawak’s overall water supply coverage currently stands at 86.1%, with rural coverage at about 71.9%.
In addition, Abang Johari said Sarawak planned to upgrade and replace about 2,700km of old and ageing water pipelines statewide.
"The five-year phased initiative is aimed at improving system reliability, reducing non-revenue water and ensuring more efficient and dependable water supply," he said.
