Water woes in KK city show major embarrassment of DBKK, state govt - MP

13 December 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin has regarded the water disruption in the capital as a major embarrassment and failure of the City Hall (DBKK) as well as the state government.

He said this is because such inconveniences shouldn’t have to happen in the urban area in the first place.

“I had been copied with a letter dated Dec 9 from d'Banyan Residency's Home Owners' Association near Sutera Harbour complaining about frequent water supply disruption in their homes.

“This shows that water disruption is happening in not just the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu as I have raised in my debate in parliament recently on the budget for the Ministry of Environment and Water, but it is also happening in an area a stone's throw away Kota Kinabalu city centre itself.

“I am simply puzzled by the disruption of water supply as d'Banyan Residency is less than one kilometre away from Imago Shopping Centre,” he said in a statement today.

“I'm sad that the residents here have to suffer from the shortage of basic amenities such as treated water supply through the tap. It is not as if the residents here are so poor that they could not pay for such basic amenities,” he added.

In this matter, Chan raised questions on the factors that cause the shortage in water supply, wondering if it is due to water loss caused by broken supply pipes.

He also queried whether the shortage is due to water theft by squatters or an overdevelopment that the City Hall failed to take into account the availability of sufficient water.

“Either way, the root cause has to be identified and a solution be put in place. I urge the Jabatan Air Negeri Sabah (JANS) to take the matter seriously and take actions immediately without any further delay,” he asserted.

Chan also stressed that the government can take the matter seriously as basic amenities and infrastructure such as clean water supply, electricity, roads and mobile telecommunication network are non-negotiable.