KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Water Department has given its commitment to supply three million litres a day (MLD) to the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) campus, which has been plagued by dry taps and water disruptions for the last two years.
State water officials made this assurance during a dialogue with UMS officials and 20 student leaders chaired by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud last week.
The volume of supply is sufficient for the campus' daily needs, the officials said.
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The dialogue was aimed at getting a proper perspective of the water supply situation that saw students demonstrating to visiting Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zamry Abd Kadir on Jan 8.
Mustapha said it was also an effort to ensure that clear and transparent information is given to the student leadership.
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Mustapha's office said in a statement on Monday (Jan 29) that the deputy minister also visited the under-construction Telibong II Water Treatment Plant Project (Phase 2) in Tuaran, which is expected to resolve water shortages in the university as well as areas north of Kota Kinabalu.
Mustapha also said that to reduce the impact of current water supply issues, UMS will continue its efforts to complete the ongoing tube well project to source underground water.
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Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allocated RM3mil for the ongoing UMS tube well project while Zambry allocated a further RM2mil following the student protests.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shaelmey Yahya, who is also state Works Minister, has said that works on the piping system at Telibong would be completed by the end of January.
This would improve water supply to UMS and the areas north of Kota Kinabalu, he added.