Water supply to stabilise soon – Shahelmey

Borneo Post

18-07-2025

Shahelmey with the recipients of the STPM 2024 Excellent Student award and I-Boards.
PUTATAN (July 18): Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya expressed confidence that the water supply in Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and surrounding areas will stabilise with the completion of phase two of the Telibong 2 water project.
He said the ongoing challenges, including ageing infrastructure, burst pipes and water theft, are being addressed, and assured that water supply recovery will show significant improvement by the end of this month — about two weeks from now.
'I urge the public not to make baseless assumptions regarding water disruptions. While legitimate concerns are valid and should be voiced, creating AI-generated videos that attack the government tarnishes the image of our administration and damages the state's reputation,' he said.
Shahelmey emphasised that the water supply issue is not new but stems from legacy problems due to delayed implementation of water development projects in Sabah.
He was speaking after receiving complaints about water supply disruptions affecting hotels and shopping malls in Kota Kinabalu and Putatan.
'Yes, I received complaints from hotel operators in Kota Kinabalu two weeks ago about low water pressure at certain times of the day. The Water Department informed me that this was due to high demand and some technical faults which caused delays in restoration,' he said.
However, he noted improvements in the past few days.
In the morning today, hotel operators confirmed that water pressure was gradually returning to normal.
Shahelmey attributed this to the recent completion of the second phase of the Telibong 2 project, which was finished two days ago.
'Testing, flushing and commissioning began on Wednesday afternoon, and by Thursday evening, some water had already reached Inanam. This signals improvements in treated water supply for northern Kota Kinabalu, and eventually to Kota Kinabalu and Putatan,' he said.
He also highlighted a critical situation in Putatan on Monday due to pipe bursts near Servay Putatan and minor technical issues in the distribution network.
'I was quite disappointed because the new UWSS project in Kasigui, with a five million-litre daily capacity, is already operational and producing three to four million litres daily. Yet, this additional supply wasn't reaching consumers,' he said.
He has since instructed the Water Department to identify and resolve the technical issues and implement recovery plans. He noted that water pressure in greater Putatan has started to improve since yesterday evening.
'I hope this trend continues and becomes more consistent. Once Telibong 2 phase two is fully completed, the water supply should be sufficient for users in Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Penampang,' he said.
Shahelmey said the technical issues in Kasigui are mainly related to distribution programming, which is currently being resolved and expected to be completed soon.
Once the Telibong 2 interconnection pipeline is completed, water will be directed to Inanam and northern parts of Kota Kinabalu, such as Sepanggar. Water previously supplied from Moyog and Kasigui to those areas will instead be redirected to Kota Kinabalu and Putatan, ensuring adequate supply across the region.
He also noted that the Water Department has water tankers on standby to supply affected areas in the event of pressure drops.
Shahelmey made these remarks after presenting contributions to top STPM 2024 students in the Putatan parliamentary constituency at the Pan Borneo Hotel in Putatan today.
He also presented I-Boards to six secondary schools: SMK Putatan, SMK Tansau, SMK Petagas, SMK Stella Maris, SM La Salle and SMK Pulau Gaya.