KUCHING: Sarawak has imposed a 12-hour emergency water delivery target as prolonged dry weather depletes reservoirs and disrupts supplies statewide.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had directed relevant agencies to implement immediate short-term measures following a high-level meeting on Sept 9 to address the worsening water shortage.
He said the Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) had been tasked with devising a mechanism to ensure continuous water supply, while the Welfare Department would deliver drinking water to communities beyond the reach of the existing distribution network.
“We have given the relevant departments a KPI (key performers indicators) that this water distribution will be coordinated by the residents of each division together with the district office.
“Once they receive the application, I will give them 12 hours to deliver the water to the required people. It is very important that the process is also very simple now,” he told reporters after officiating at the Mambong Administrative Machinery Workshop at the Biperoh Association Multipurpose Hall here today.
Uggah said the prolonged hot and dry spell had caused water storage areas across Sarawak to shrink, creating widespread distribution challenges.
“A lot of our water storage areas are drying up. So there are a lot of issues of water distribution,” he said.
According to the latest reports, Betong, parts of Serian and rural areas in Miri are among the worst affected.
He explained that while Miri city continues to receive water supply, many interior longhouses relying on gravity-fed systems are facing acute shortages as streams and catchment sources dry up.
“The rural areas are all over the place. The Welfare Department and JBALB are all very busy,” he said, adding that emergency efforts had achieved some success despite the challenging conditions.
Responding to water shortage complaints in Mambong, Uggah said he would immediately raise the matter with JBALB to secure short-term solutions for villages experiencing acute supply disruptions.
Looking ahead, he warned that weather projections indicate October could be even hotter, prompting the state to work with the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) on continued cloud seeding operations whenever atmospheric conditions are favourable.
“We must make sure that our water storage will be replenished through cloud seeding,” he said.
