Hajiji: Five years max to resolve Sabah’s water woes

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s water woes will be resolved between two and five years from now, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said steps were in place to address this longstanding problem.

The Telibong II water treatment plant in Tamparuli was already in the last stages of upgrading, Hajiji said.

He added that it was expected to be fully operational by early next year.

This project, once completed, would add 80 million litres of water supply per day to consumers in Kota Kinabalu and Tuaran, thus reducing water disruptions in these areas, he said.

“This is among the additional plants being planned to tackle water supply problems in Sabah. The others include the one in Kogopon, Papar,” said Hajiji.

He said the RM380mil Kogopon water treatment plant, which would increase water supply capacity from 40 million litres daily to 80 million litres per day, is under construction and is expected to be completed by 2026.

An additional RM320mil was recently allocated by the Federal Government to provide short term solutions to water problems in the state, he said during the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah annual general meeting for the Sulaman division yesterday.

As for electricity, Hajiji said one of the measures taken to generate power was through the building of a hydroelectric power plant and dam in Ulu Padas, Tenom.

He said that work on these projects was expected to start as soon as possible.

On political developments, the Sulaman assemblyman voiced confidence that Gagasan Rakyat through the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state coalition would continue its hold on the state constituencies of Pantai Dalit, Tamparuli dan Kiulu, as well as Sulaman.

This was achievable in the next state election as long as all GRS members and component parties were united and refrained from sabotaging one another, he said.