85,000 PEOPLE HIT BY WATER SHORTAGES IN LABUAN

By Jailani Hasan

LABUAN (Malaysia), Sept 12 (Bernama) -- About 85,000 people in Labuan have
been hard hit by water shortages since July, as supply cannot cope with demand,
it was revealed Saturday.

Labuan is the main island of the Malaysian Federal Territory of Labuan,
comprises Labuan Island (75 km²) and six other smaller islands. The islands lie
8 km off the coast of Borneo, adjacent to the East Malaysian state of Sabah and
the independent state of Brunei Darussalam, on the northern edge of Brunei Bay
facing the South China Sea.



People in the city here, as well as 27 villages on the island, are being
inconvenienced by water rationing in the day, and water only flows into their
taps from midnight for about three or four hours before the supply runs dry.

Labuan is still dependent on water supply from mainland Sabah via an
undersea pipeline through the Padas River in Beaufort.

Bernama reported recently that Labuan is expected to only have adequate
water supply by the end of 2010, after a RM365 million new undersea water
pipeline from Beaufort is fully connected.

Currently, demand for water in Labuan is about 56 million litres a day but
supply is only at 42 million litres, a shortfall of 25 per cent. But if one were
to take away the 10 million litres needed by Petronas's methanol plant which
began operations here this year, there are only 32 million litres left for other
consumers on the island, which is also home to the country's integrated
international business and financial centre (IBFC).


When Federal Territories Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin was
asked about the matter here recently, he said:

"I will contact Petronas president Mohd Hassan Marican to discuss how we can
help solve the problem. Maybe, Petronas can outsource water supply
directly from mainland Sabah."

Raja Nong Chik said various efforts were being carried out to improve water
supply, including the construction of tube wells at several locations in Kampung
Tanjung Aru and Kampung Kerupang to tap into Labuan's underground water
reserves.

Labuan Water director Sulaiman Kamisan said 16 tube wells were being
constructed by Sime Darby Bhd in the project, which began early this month, to
produce at least 10 million litres of water daily in about three months.

Raja Nong Chik said the government was also considering "rain harvesting" to
enable three existing water dams to function as usual and cater to the needs
of consumers on the island. Two of the three dams -- Sungai Pagar and Kerupang
-- have gone dry.

Sulaiman said his department had also proposed sea water distillation to
ensure sufficient water supply in the long run.

"We have given our proposal to the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and
Water to distill sea water for Labuan’s consumption...we hope we can implement
it here," he said.

Raja Nong Chik said the proposal was being discussed at the ministerial
level altough it involved considerable costs and time.

The water woes are also giving a lot of stress to some 4,000 students at two
institutions of higher learning here -– Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and
Matriculation College -- as water supply to their hostels have slowed to a
trickle. They now rely on tankers from the Water Department for additional
supplies, just like the rest of the islanders here.

"Not even a drop of water to drink from the pipe, what more to bathe?,"
asked a
UMS student from Sarawak's interior, who wished to be known as Abdul Wahid.


"I never thought I would face this kind of problem when I enrolled into UMS
early this year. I want to look fresh each time my class starts. Unfortunately,
there is no water to bathe, wash my face or even brush my teeth (in my hostel),"
he said.

He added: "Labuan is not an isolated place as compared to my area in
Sarawak. I
am not living in the interior here. Whoever gets up early will have a chance to
bathe (before the water runs out). The worst part is that the toilets stink
because there is no water to flush."

A staff at the Student Affairs Unit of Matriculation College said there were
2,348 students studying at the college. The majority come from Sarawak and
Sabah, with a small number from Peninsular Malaysia.

"Many parents of the students have been calling us, following the water
problem in our college but there is nothing much we can do. It is beyond our
control. This is an unexpected problem, we have never had this problem before,"
she said.

Some lecturers had even asked for transfers, citing the water dilemma as
their reason for leaving and students had also told the college that they too
want to quit.


UMS Senior Assistant Registrar of Students Affairs Zamri Haji Mohd Tuah said
there were some 1,900 students currently staying in the UMS hostel.

"What we are worried about now is that the lack of water supply could lead
to other diseases. The Health Department is now monitoring the situation, day
and night," he said.

A single mother, Jainah Jambul, said the water shortage had given rise to
worrying concerns about sanitation risks as the dilemma had forced some people
to use the beach and sea as toilets.

However, the greater danger was the outbreak of diseases from such
unhygienic practices, she added.

Another Labuan resident, Nurelaine Qistina Sibil Abdullah, who is also
distressed over the health hazards, said: "To be able to wash, you need water.
No point teaching about sanitation if water is not readily available.

"It's mostly the women who have to wait and get water when the water tankers
come. Many of us are tired from the strain of carrying large amounts of water in
pails and containers daily."

Labuan MP Yussof Mahal said the problem was unexpected and the
government was not ignoring the problem but doing its best to resolve it.

"We cannot afford to see investors switching to other states just because
the island does not have enough water supply.

"The two higher learning institutions are important to us. We do not want
parents to stop sending their children to Labuan because of that," he said.

-- BERNAMA