Sabah to build RM4bil hydro dam

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is working towards long-term solutions to its chronic water supply problem, including building a RM4bil hydroelectric dam in the interior Tenom district, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

The groundbreaking for the dam, to be built in Upper Padas, will be in October.

Hajiji said by the time the project is completed in 2027, it will be able to supply consumers up to 6,000 million litres daily (MLD).

“This is a joint-venture project between the state government, through the Sabah Energy Corporation, and the private sector,” he said after launching the Kogopon Water Treatment Plant Phase II project in the Papar district yesterday.

“The state government is also currently conducting a feasibility study on the Papar or Kaiduan Dam as another long-term solution to the state’s water woes and to cater to the needs of industry.

“The study is to establish whether to build the dam in Papar or Kaiduan,” he said.

On the Kogopon Water Treatment Plant, he said this will involve RM379mil upgrading works under its Phase II development to boost production capacity up to 80MLD.

Work will start this month and is expected to be completed in August 2026.

He added that this will benefit some 160,000 consumers in Papar as well as areas south of the state capital like Putatan, Kinarut and Lok Kawi.

Hajiji said the project will increase water supply for industrial demand, particularly the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal and the Sabah Agro-Industrial Precinct under the Sabah Development Corridor, up to 2040.

“It will help to address water shortage in the southern west coast,” he added.

The Chief Minister has also instructed the state Water Department to strictly monitor the project’s progress to ensure it is completed according to schedule three years from now.

“This is what is being done by the government on the short- and long-term basis to overcome the water supply problem in Sabah, particularly Kota Kinabalu.

“I do not want to see the project delayed and the people ending up being denied water supply,” he said.

Earlier, Hajiji was told that the Kogopon Water Treatment Plant presently has a production capacity of 40MLD and that the upgrading project will increase production by another 40MLD.

The project scope includes the construction of a new treatment plant, balancing reservoir with a capacity of 10 million litres, three distribution tanks in Kimanis, Kampung Nagapas and Kampung Ketiau, and upgrading of the water intake.

On the water supply problem in Tuaran up to Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Hajiji said it is expected to be resolved by the end of this year once teething issues affecting the Telibong Water Treatment Plant II project are addressed.

He assured the people that the state government is making every effort to address the water woes, including in the east coast Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu districts.

Also present at the Kogopon Water Treatment Plant Phase II launch were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, Deputy Chief Minister III and state Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, local assemblymen and senior government officers.

Armizan said the plant was planned in 2013 and approved for implementation in 2019 under the fourth Rolling Plan of the 11th Malaysia Plan, with completion set for 2022.

“Unfortunately, it was not implemented by the previous government, and the delay has resulted in the cost going up from RM312mil to RM379mil.

“This is the actual reason behind the major water supply disruption in Papar up to Putatan currently,” he added.

Nonetheless, Armizan urged the contractor appointed to implement the project to complete it within the stipulated time frame.