KOTA KINABALU: State authorities have taken immediate short term measures to address ongoing water shortages in various parts of Sabah.
State Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya said some initiatives taken were by distributing water supplies to affected areas by modifying piping systems from valves at certain scheduled times.
He said the distribution of water supply in phases was also being done in affected areas based on requests.
He said if there were people who faced water shortages for a span of more than a few days and had no access to clean water supply due to logistics or other reasons, they could call and request that water be delivered to them.
How fast the water supply reached them, however, was based on the availability of staff and the logistics at the time of request.
Shahelmey said other than that, there was scheduled water rationing for certain areas so that daily operations could still go on despite low water supply or low water pressure and other related issues.
"An Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) is being built to cater to customers in the northern parts of Sabah as well, and this is an additional 15 million litres per day of water," he added.
Sabah’s ongoing water shortage and frequent supply disruptions were making people angry and frustrated, but their complaints and woes always seemed to fall on deaf ears as the problem still persisted up to this day.
They often aired their grouses on social media platforms.
On Friday (March 17) alone, six areas - Pitas, Sandakan, Kalabakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran and Sook - were issued with water disruption notices while at least nine districts - Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kota Belud, Papar, Kinabatangan, Pitas, Tambunan, Nabawan and Sandakan, faced water shortages on Thursday (March 16).
