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KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is expected to see its water supply issues easing by the end of January, says state Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
He said the matter would have been resolved by now if not for delays in the Telibong II water treatment plant completion.
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He said that if construction on the plant had gone as scheduled, UMS and its surrounding areas would have had sufficient supply.
“We hope by the end of this month, there will be extra water distributed to UMS,” Shahelmey said after the launching of a MyJANS mobile application on Thursday (Jan 11).
Asked about short-term measures to address the problem, he said the ongoing method was to send in water tankers and ensure that supply goes in every day to the campus from Water Department pipes.
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He said the UMS technical team must work closely with Water Department officials to ensure that the supply to UMS is managed properly.
“UMS must play its part well to ensure that distribution and water pressure are handled well for the use of the campus,” Shahelmey said.
On Monday (Jan 8), students at UMS carried placards highlighting their water woes during a visit by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir. He then approved another RM2mil allocation to overcome the problem.
On Tuesday (Jan 9), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim asked the relevant agencies to immediately look into what happened to the RM3mil allocation provided to the university last year to ease water woes.
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Shahelmey said the RM3mil allocation was to UMS and not the state.
It is learned that the UMS management is expected to issue a statement on the matter.
The Prime Minister’s allocation was supposed to be for the funding of the university’s ongoing project to construct bore wells that include construction of a pipeline and water treatment system among others within the campus; the university had been undertaking the project since 2021.
