KKDW READY TO DISCUSS WITH PETRA ON WATER SUPPLY ISSUES IN SABAH, SARAWAK

ALOR SETAR, July 15 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) is prepared to hold talks with the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) to discuss the issue of the Rural Water Supply (BALB) projects in Sabah and Sarawak.

Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Rubiah Wang said her ministry welcomed the meeting as a way to find the best and most effective solution to ensure the people in both states enjoy clean water supply.

"We are ready to negotiate or hold discussions with other agencies, especially from the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) who are both in charge of the country's water management because we know that implementing this rural water supply programme is not easy because it involves land and the state government.

"If we install a pipe without water source, we cannot have water. The pipe is there but only the wind is coming out...If there is an initiative, consult us, we welcome it, in fact we want to take the same action so that every project that is approved has a direction and there are no problems after completion," she told reporters after the Kedah Regional Development Authority (KEDA) Monthly Assembly here today.

Rubiah said this when asked to comment on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadilah Yusof's statement to hold talks with KKDW to discuss the BALB projects in Sarawak and Sabah.

The discussion is to find a solution to water related issues as raised in the Auditor General's Report Year 2024 Series 2 which was issued on July 5.

According to the report, water supply disruptions in Sarawak and Sabah that are not handled properly causing rural residents in both states not being  able to enjoy clean and treated water and not achieving the objectives that have been set.

Meanwhile, Rubiah said until now her ministry is still accepting applications for clean water supply in the two states.

"There are many areas in Sabah and Sarawak not covered are indeed many areas that have not been covered, we need quite a large allocation. But we can't do it comprehensively because the allocation we get is based on what we request and we do not get everything we want.

"...So we can only implement it in a few areas, apart from that, the geographical factors as well as the topography and population distribution also affect the problem of water supply, especially in the interior.

-- BERNAMA