CONTINOUS rain since early this week in Sabah has left homes damaged, hundreds evacuated and thousands more without running water after treatment plants in flood-hit districts were forced to shut down.
The Kasigui Water Treatment Plant in Penampang was taken offline once the Moyog River turned murky with mud and debris.
Officials said turbidity levels spiked beyond safe limits, making the raw water too dirty to process.
Engineers warned that keeping the plant running under such conditions risked damaging its equipment.
The shutdown cut supply to households across Penampang and parts of neighbouring Putatan, with residents reporting dry taps even in areas not directly affected by floods.
The Water Department has deployed tanker lorries and begun rationing, but deliveries have been patchy, forcing long queues in several neighbourhoods.
The Kasigui plant, first commissioned in 1958, has a long history of breakdowns during bad weather.
Initially built to produce 11 million litres a day, it was expanded in the 1970s to 50 million litres.
A new facility began operating in June this year to strengthen capacity, but the latest closure shows the system remains exposed whenever the Moyog River swells.
Moyog assemblyman Datuk Darell Leiking said the closure was foreseeable and urged authorities to build redundancy into the system.
“If Kasigui keeps shutting down every flood, where is the alternate supply? This isn’t new,” he said.
Leiking added that pipeline projects meant to stabilize supply had been delayed for years by disputes over contracts, while enforcement against hill-cutting had been weak.
“Hill-cutting is obvious on the ground. Where is enforcement?” he asked.
He also pointed to the role of political appointees in district committees, saying this limited the ability of elected representatives to act during crises.
Umno Putatan chief Jeffrey Nor said the incident showed that Sabah’s treatment plants must be upgraded or replaced.
“We need to change the Loji. We need to upgrade our water treatment plant,” he said.
He suggested that privatising plant operations would make operators fully accountable for repairs and maintenance, unlike the current arrangement.
The state and federal governments have channelled large sums to tackle water shortages in recent years.
In June 2023, Putrajaya approved a RM320 million soft loan to Sabah for urgent works.
The State Budget 2025, tabled in November 2024, set aside RM729.8 million for the Water Department, followed by an additional RM523.5 million in a supplementary budget this July.
The federal Ministry of Energy Transition and Water has also earmarked RM8.79 billion for 86 energy and water projects in Sabah, including upgrades to Kasigui, Kogopon in Papar and Telibong II in Kota Kinabalu.
Many of these projects, however, are still under construction.
Sabah continues to struggle with non-revenue water, more than half of treated water is lost through leaks or theft, a problem critics say undermines new investments.
The floods have already turned deadly. A 97-year-old man was killed when his house in Kampung Sarapung, Penampang, was swept away by a landslide on Thursday.
The Civil Defence Force said 434 people were sheltering at relief centres as of Saturday, including 228 in Penampang, 147 in Beaufort and 59 in Tawau.
Penampang has seen similar tragedies in the past. In July 2024, 37-year-old Monica Ting drowned after being swept away near the Sigah roundabout. In September 2021, a landslide at Forest Hill killed a young mother and her five-year-old daughter.
Official response
Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, has declared a statewide disaster, directing all agencies to prioritise relief in the worst-hit districts.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also been briefed on the situation.
As of Saturday, Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, who oversees water supply, had yet to confirm how many plants were shut down or what upgrades have been carried out to prevent further disruption. - September 13, 2025
