ANOTHER WISH FULFILLLED IN BALINGIAN - UPGRADING OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT

The water treatment plant here will be upgraded to meet the increasing demand from local consumers, revealed Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

Awang Tengah who is also Minister of Public Utilities said the Mukah water treatment plant was upgraded a few years ago but the capacity has reached its limit due to the increasing number of consumers particularly the influx of workers to Mukah due to the rapid industrialisation brought about by Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

“It was upgraded in the last few years. And I know the need to upgrade the plant. I can’t give you the details capacity off-hand but definitely there is an increasing demand because Balingain sub-district will be connected from here. So there is really a need for us to upgrade the present capacity,” he reiterated.

“The present water capacity is not enough to meet the increasing demand of the water supply, and because of that certain areas are facing low water pressure.

“Anyway we have a plan to upgrade the water treatment plant in Mukah as well as to improve the distribution of the system here. We are also taking into consideration the latest development here,” Awang Tengah told the media at meet-the-people-session at Kpg Penakub Cina, some 8km from here yesterday.

He said the government was also aware of certain parts of Balingian sub-district facing low water pressure.

He said besides the needs of the ordinary consumers, the Regional Corridor of Development Authority (Recoda) which is based here had also sought federal funding to upgrade all related infrastructure under its jurisdiction.

“I understand that Recoda is also requesting for fund from the federal Government and Mukah is one of the areas under the Sarawak Corridor of renewable Energy (Score). So it is our priority to upgrade our water treatment plant here in Mukah and to increase its capacity,” he said.

Better distribution of treated water especially in Balingian sub-district is one of the seven wish-lists of the local people which has been highlighted by The Borneo Post even before the by-election was announced.

Awang Tengah has assured the voters in the Balingian that government would look into their needs.

Among the seven wish lists, four of them have been answered and committed by the government. These four are bigger airport for Mukah, a secondary school for Balingian sub-district and a new primary for Kpg Tellian Tengah and an upgraded water treatment plant for the area.

Meanwhile, Awang Tengah reiterated that the government had appointed a contractor to build the first phase of the new Mukah Airport.

“As announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently, the new Mukah airport will be implemented in stages. For the first state, the Federal Government has allocated RM133 million for earth-works and the contractor has also been appointed to implement it,” he said.