Endlessly salty water has Sandakan residents at wits’ end

SANDAKAN – Bottled drinking water is selling like hotcakes in Sandakan as the people here not only worry about their health from their salty water supply, but cannot even stand the taste of the water.  

Locals here described drinking water from their home water filters as “adding a teaspoon of salt into a cup of water”.  

“See if you are still thirsty after drinking that cup of water,” a local here asked when trying to describe the problem that residents here have faced on a daily basis since November last year.  

It was learned that only the more advanced water filtration machines are able to eliminate the saline taste from the drinking water.  

As a result, locals resort to buying bottled drinking water in bulk and most supermarkets and convenience stores here are almost constantly out of stock.  

There are also reports that some retailers have begun limiting purchases of mineral water, just like sugar, to ensure other customers have a chance to buy them.  

Last Wednesday, the Sandakan Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Ministry office inspected the prices of drinking water around Sandakan and found premises raising prices because they had to get the stocks from other premises due to rising demand.  

Sandakan ministry chief enforcement officer Azdy Zukkry John said though bottled drinking water is not a controlled price item, sellers cannot raise the prices unreasonably. 

But he denied that Sandakan’s bottled water supply is insufficient, as Sandakan has been getting an additional 50% supply from Kota Kinabalu.  

A local father of two, Chan Tzun Hei, said that he spends about RM50 per month to purchase bottled water, which he said was an additional expense due to the failure of the government.  

“I have to fork out that money on top of paying my water bill. How is that fair? 

“I have a smaller family, imagine people with bigger families? How much do they need to spend?” he asked, adding that his son could not drink milk made with salty water.  

He urged the seven assemblymen in Sandakan – George Hiew (Karamunting), Alias Sani (Sekong), Calvin Chong (Elopura), Datuk Frankie Poon (Tg Papat), Datuk Mohamad Hamsan Awang Supain (Sg Sibuga), Mokran Ingkat (Sg Manila), and Arunarnsin Taib (Gum-Gum) to take immediate action to solve the problem.  

A local shop owner here, Chin Nyuk Sun, said he spends about RM1,200 a month to purchase bottled mineral water, about 60 boxes a month for eight people, including his family members and his workers.   

The problem has become so bad that local DAP leaders want the prime minister to intervene, as Sandakan MP Vivian Wong and Poon handed a memorandum on the matter to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday (May 9) in Putrajaya. 

Source of the problem  

The problem started around November last year when residents began complaining that the water supply in Sandakan tasted salty, with some claiming to experience diarrhoea and skin problems.  

Locals raised the problem to their representatives, who then questioned the Sandakan Water Department. 

Only then did the department discover that the problem stemmed from the river gate at the Segaliud water treatment plant, which had been damaged by irresponsible fishermen trying to get through.  

The gate was however repaired in mid-March this year, but it has been two months since and the water supply here is still salty.  

Karamunting assemblyman Hiew said that the Water Department claimed it would take a longer time for the salt level in the water reservoir in Segaliud to be diluted due to a lack of rainwater during the hot weather.  

However, Elopura assemblyman Chong claimed that the salt level in Sandakan’s water supply is getting worse as the total dissolved solids reading for the tap water here showed over 700mg/ℓ, according to a test that he had recently conducted.  

“It has been over seven months. How much longer does the Water Department need to solve the problem? The problem would not even have started if the water treatment plant security team guarded and monitored the place well,” he said.  

Sabah Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya is expected to visit the Segaliud water treatment plant today, and locals are expecting him to have a good answer to their woes, including waiving their water utility bills for seven months. – The Vibes, May 15, 2023