SANDAKAN – Several residents of Kota Belud who oppose a local water treatment plant project could potentially jeopardise the district’s last opportunity to secure a stable water supply, warns Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
Tangau expressed concerns that the Rural Water Supply Project (BALB) in Kg Kapa-Kg Sinalapak, Tamparuli, currently pending approval by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, is now at risk of being rejected due to objections from some villagers in the area.
“The project received written objections from several individuals from Kg Bundu Paka, Kadamaian, Kota Belud, because the water intake pipe of the project in Kg Tombotuan would pass through their village.
“The project could have been approved soon, but if it is objected to and cancelled, we might not have a second chance in the future,” he said in a recent Facebook post.
Tangau clarified that once the project is completed, the objectors’ village, Kg Bundu Paka, would be one of five villages in Kota Belud to receive treated water, along with 15 villages and nine primary schools in Tuaran.
Tamparuli is a small town and a sub-district of Tuaran on the west coast of Sabah, approximately 37 km from the state capital, Kota Kinabalu City. Kota Belud is a district situated north of Tuaran.
“In the midst of Sabah having a water supply crisis, I am disappointed that there are villagers opposing a water treatment plant project when it aims to benefit their own village and villagers around them.
“The treatment plant would supply around 20 million litres per day (mld), with an allocation of RM180 million. But this project is in the process of being cancelled due to these objections,” Tangau said.
He said he believes the objections were due to a lack of understanding about the real purpose of the treatment plant, as some people mistakenly believe that it would take about 2,000 acres of space and would involve the construction of a large dam.
He stressed that this is far from the truth because a treatment plant is fundamentally different from a dam.
For instance, he said, the Telibong 1 water treatment plant has been supplying 75 mld of treated water without any dam, and it only uses five acres of land.
“What more a plant that is supplying only 20MLD! Surely it will take up less space,” he said.
Tangau also clarified that the water supply could not be drawn directly from the Tuaran River (Sg Tuaran) near Tamparuli because water department consultants had pointed out that Sg Tuaran did not have a sufficient supply, as it currently serves four water treatment plants in the vicinity.
Furthermore, Tangau said that he had been advocating for the project since 2004, and it was only approved in 2017 during his tenure as the Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister in the federal cabinet.
“I have once again asked for the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to approve and implement this project. However, due to misunderstanding and confusion among the local villagers, the project has been delayed until today.
“Now, to realise this project, it is up to you (villagers). I hope that my fight (to get treated water supply for locals) would not be wasted so that we could gradually solve the water supply issue in Sabah, including in these villages,” he added. – November 3, 2023