KOTA KINABALU: The water problems faced by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will soon be resolved, according to vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor.
Prof Kasim mentioned that around five million litres of water will be supplied to the campus on a daily basis in the near future. Currently, the Sabah Water Department is providing four million litres while the remaining one million litres will come from eight tube wells that are being installed.
These wells are being funded through a special RM3 million allocation announced by the Prime Minister for six of the wells, with an additional RM2 million allocation from the Higher Education Ministry for the remaining two. Prof Kasim explained that the analysis shows that the eight tube wells will be able to produce one million litres of water, which will be enough when combined with the supply from the water department.
He mentioned this during a breaking of fast event at the Pusat Islam UMS on Monday (March 18), stating that the water supply will be able to cater to the needs of approximately 22,000 people in the UMS community including staff and students residing in their college accommodations.
In January, the Sabah Water Department had expressed their commitment to ensure sufficient water supply to UMS. Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya had previously noted an increase in demand for water at the UMS campus in December.
Records from the Sabah Water Department indicated that the university was supplied with 2.7 million litres of water to meet their demand of 2.98 million litres. However, the demand had risen to 5 million litres in December before the completion of the second phase of the Telibong 2 project, which aimed to boost water supply to Kota Kinabalu’s northern areas.
Shahelmey, who is also the Works Minister, mentioned that the completion of the second phase of the Telibong 2 project should have resolved the water supply issue. However, some piping works still needed to be completed to link the additional treated water from Telibong 2 into the distribution network.
Regarding the installation of the six tube wells funded through the RM3 million allocation, Prof Kasim stated that the drilling for all the wells has been finished. The contractor is currently in the process of completing the reservoir system and piping work to the student residences, with three wells expected to be fully operational by March 26.
He mentioned that the remaining three wells, along with two more funded through the Higher Education Ministry, will only be completed in April. The hot and dry spell has also impacted two sources of water gravity systems utilized by UMS.
