The Sarawak Government allocated RM6.37 billion to implement full water and electricity supply by 2025 through the Ministry of Utilities Sarawak and its implementing agencies, Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB), Kuching Water Board, Sibu Water Board, LAKU Management Sdn. Bhd. and Sarawak Energy Berhad.
“For both water and electricity, short to long term initiatives under the Sarawak Water Supply Master Plan, State Water Grid Program and Sarawak Rural Electrification Masterplan were implemented since 2018” said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, after chairing the State Utilities Task Force project monitoring meeting on 14 June 2021.
“Resolving the immediate water problem issues faced, the Sarawak Water Grid Supply System- Stressed Areas funded under Projek Rakyat will improve the current water supply situations in Sarawak and aimed to bring an end to water woes in Sarawak” added Datuk Amar Awang Tengah.
Under the Projek Rakyat for the water program, a total of RM4 billion was allocated for three hundred and twenty-one (321) water supply projects aimed towards resolving the water supply reliability issues in water stressed areas and providing potable water supply to those without access to this basic amenity.
As of now 165 projects were completed while the remaining 156 projects are expected to fully complete by 2023.
The completion of all these projects will minimise immediate water supply issues in the water stressed areas by increasing the volume of treated water delivered to the consumers and improving the water supply pressure.
“An amount of RM2.37 billion was allocated under the Sarawak Government’s Projek Rakyat Accelerated Rural Electrification Masterplan,” said Awang Tengah on rural electrification in the State.
The RM2.37 billion Rural Electrification includes Rural Power Supply Scheme (RPSS) that extends and enhances the main grid infrastructure to rural areas with new substations build as power injection points and allows for subsequent Rural Electrification Scheme (RES) Last Mile connections to localized areas for eventual supply into domestic houses.
Since 2019, five (5) substations have been completed and commissioned at Batang Ai, Pakan, Julau, Ng. Ngungun, and Sebauh while five (5) more are currently under construction at Tatau, Kanowit, Dalat, Sangan and Belaga.
Another two (2) more substations will begin construction at Long Lama and Bakelalan after land acquisitions are completed.
For villages or longhouses too distant to be connected to these utility grid-systems or without the proper road access for constructing water and electricity connections, stand-alone Sarawak Alternative Water Supply System (SAWAS) and Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES) are implemented.
These stand-alone off-grid systems enable the rakyat in the remote areas to enjoy these amenities without having to wait for the grid-system, which will take a longer time as it depends on the accessibility to these areas.
“On rural coverage for these basic amenities, the overall water supply coverage in Sarawak is estimated at 83.4% with rural water supply coverage at 66.5%.
Sarawak’s overall coverage for electricity is 98% with rural electricity supply coverage at 95%.
The Government is committed towards achieving full coverage for these utilities by 2025 despite facing many challenges to reach the remote rural areas with limited or no proper accessibility, which is further compounded with the current COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the implementation of many projects and delaying their completion” said Awang Tengah.
The Sarawak Government, through the Ministry of Utilities Sarawak and its implementing agencies, are committed to deliver these initiatives under Projek Rakyat to ensure the people of Sarawak have access to clean water supply and 24-hour electricity supply.
The State Utilities Task Force meets regularly to monitor and facilitate water and electricity supply projects and oversee the implementation progresses smoothly and expeditiously.
Also present at the meeting are Dato Sri Dr. Stephen Rundi anak Utom, Minister for Utilities, Datuk Liwan Lagang, Assistant Minister for Utilities (Rural Electricity), Datuk Dr. Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Junaidi, Assistant Minister for Utilities (Water Supply), Dato Sri Haji Mohamad Abu Bakar bin Marzuki, Deputy State Secretary (Socio-Economic Transformation), Dato Alice Jawan, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Utilities and senior officers from State Financial Secretary’s office, Economic Planning Unit Sarawak and the respective implementing agencies.
