KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hopes to reduce water shortage problems in the Papar, Putatan and Kimanis areas when two water plants are fully operational in a month or two, says Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The Chief Minister said the 80 million litres daily (MLD) Kogopon Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and the new Kabang Raw Water Intake Plant here are set to be operational in November and August this year, respectively.
He directed the state Water Department to closely monitor the projects and ensure completion without further delays.
Hajiji also said the department should be more proactive in handling water shortage issues by sending water tanks to all affected areas across Sabah.
“The water supply problem is a legacy issue but as a responsible government we want to address this," he said at the briefing on the two projects near here Tuesday (July 28).
Earlier, state Water Department director Chee Chun Chieh told the Chief Minister that the RM365.9mil Kogopon WTP is scheduled to start supplying water by the end of November.
The whole Kogopon WTP project is expected to be fully completed by 2028 but Chee said it should be able to start supplying water to cater for the demand in Papar, Putatan up to Kimanis before the end of this year.
On the RM39.73mil Kabang Water Intake Plant, Hajiji was informed that it was now 90% completed and would be commissioned by this September.
The new water intake plant, which is expected to boost capacity from nine MLD to 30 MLD was built further upstream of the Papar river in Kabang to avoid salinity issues that frequently affected the existing Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) Treatment Plant and its water intake in Limbahau (Papar).
Over a hundred thousand households live and work in the three areas mentioned earlier.
