PAPAR: Papar is still facing a deficit of 15 million litres per day (MLD) of water despite the Kogopon water treatment plant having resumed operations.
Papar member of parliament Datuk Armizan Ali said the Kogopon plant was closed for two days due to a main pipe burst.
The district activated its disaster operation centre a few weeks back as the drought has affected the water quality at several water treatment plants.
Apart from about 150,000 people affected by the crisis, the dry spell also put greater challenges to firemen to put out rampant wildfires in the district.
"It has been almost a month now, checking the weather forecast several times a day, but still no rain.
"Rain is crucial to allow the raw water turbidity levels at the Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) in the Kampung Limbahau and Jetama Limbahau water treatment plants to drop below the allowable treatment level of 120 mg/l (currently still exceeding 5000 mg/l)," he said in his Facebook post.
Currently, treated water capacity in Papar is only 35 MLD from Kogopon and 5 MLD from Jetama, totaling 40 million liters per day.
There are still villages, neighborhoods, and areas that have not received water supply through pipelines, especially those at the end of the distribution line such as Kampung Kuala, Kampung Sekayan, Kampung Bundusan, Kampung Sungai Padang, Kampung Sri Tanjung, Kampung Kelanahan, and many places in Kinarut, besides residential areas.
"This morning, I have asked our teams in (teams) at Kawang, Limbahau, and Pantai Manis for any locations that have not yet received water supply through pipelines to enable better water distribution planning until both the Emergency Water Supply Scheme and Jetama water plants can operate."
Meanwhile, Armizan, who is also Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister, said if the Kogopon Upgrading project had proceeded as planned in 2019 and completed by 2022 the constituents would not be facing such a situation.
The project, which will increase the treatment plant from 40 MLD to 80 MLD, would give a larger reserve margin in Papar even during drought.