KUALA TERENGGANU – The Terengganu government intends to upgrade the existing 25-year-old undersea pipeline that supplies treated water to Pulau Redang as it is often broken, resulting in unscheduled water supply disruptions.
State Infrastructure, Public Facilities, Utilities and Green Technology Committee chairman Mamad Puteh said an allocation of RM120 million was needed to carry out the repair work to replace the underwater pipeline along the 23km stretch.
“It has been breaking often recently, and causes unscheduled water supply disruptions for the residents on the resort island as well as some consumers in the Setiu district.
“Every time there is a broken section, we lose almost 50% of our clean water supply, even incurring high repair costs of RM70,000. Hence, we are trying to find an allocation of RM120 million as a long-term solution,” he told reporters here today.
According to him, every time a section breaks along the pipeline, Syarikat Air Terengganu Sdn Bhd (Satu) has to reduce the pressure to prevent more water from coming out.
“This will cause account users to face water supply disruptions due to very low pressure. Broken sections are becoming more frequent and the latest was two weeks ago,” he said.
Recently, Satu had to implement scheduled water supply drops in several areas in four districts, namely Marang, Hulu Terengganu, Setiu, and Besut to ensure consumers can celebrate Aidilfitri comfortably.
The supplies were temporarily stopped from midnight to 4.30am to ensure water supplies during the day were not affected. – Bernama, May 7, 2022
