Nibong-Tada water woes: Two high-impact projects set to meet increasing demands, says JBALB
KUCHING (June 12): Two high-impact projects are currently being implemented to accommodate increasing water supply demands in Nibong-Tada, Kanowit.
Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) director Awang Mohammad Fadillah Awang Redzuan said the two projects are long-term solutions to address water the current supply disruptions in the area.
'The first is the Kanowit Phase 2 project which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. The other is the Salim Water Treatment Plant Phase III upgrade project under the Sibu Water Authority,' he said when contacted by The Borneo Post.
Awang Mohammad Fadillah was asked to comment on water supply disruptions marring the Gawai Dayak celebrations at several longhouses in Nibong-Tada, highlighted by former Kanowit MP Tan Sri Leo Moggie Irok.
Moggie told The Borneo Post on Wednesday that the issue of unsatisfactory water supply along the Nibong-Tada road was thought to have been resolved following his personal exchanges of correspondence with the federal Rural and Regional Development Ministry and Sarawak JBALB in 2017 and 2018, adding that upgrading works were supposed to have been carried out then.
Meanwhile, Awang Mohammad Fadillah said a short-term solution to the problem includes the supply of water by JBALB to the Nibong-Tada area through the Nibong-Tada booster pump station, supplying approximately 1.8 to two million litres per day.
'The water supply is from the Sibu Water Authority through the Salim Water Treatment Plant. However, the water supply distribution capacity is currently insufficient, especially during the festive season.
'To overcome this problem, the short-term solution is to implement the Acute System Project with a capacity of four million litres per day, which is expected to begin construction in the fourth quarter of this year,' he said.
He also informed that the delivery of water via water tankers is being carried out every day by JBALB to the affected longhouses in the area. jbalb Kanowit Nibong/Tada water supply
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