No new dam is needed in Sabah unless NRW is independently addressed

No new dam is needed in Sabah unless NRW is independently addressed

According to a Bernama report “Sabah is producing the most non revenue water” as reported in Daily Express 26 October, 2004. The loss was 73.86% (2002) and 61.96% (2001).  I believe based on my limited reliable research the NRW is 80+% as it is dependent on various parameters as illustrated in my book “water” ISBN983-2653-12-6 (2005).  So today our NRW is still very substantial (not the official figures of 50%) and need to be  independently scrutinised.   In terms of money, it is in the hundreds of millions ringgit annually for the losses include costs of treating raw water, costs of purchase of raw and treated water from independent suppliers and real loss of treated water through theft of various forms including massive bottled water, broken pipes, and wastage of tap water allowed to run idly. I hope someone would be serious to look into all the aspects of the total losses in various circumstances to give a real figure of loss annually.

So if we can conserve costly treated water, Babagon dam and other points of raw water intakes like Telibong Tuaran  should be more than enough to provide raw water for Sabah especially west coast of Sabah.  Another dam over Papar river would be meaningless and wasteful if NRW is just allowed to be chronic at exceeding high.  Sabah can ill afford another dam because of all the related costs of treated water and the distribution thereof.

I think in the west coast and elsewhere, there is not one day we don’t have water woes.  The director of water department said that “burst pipes could be due to foul play” (DE 24 June, 2019) especially since some termination of water deals. Hotlines of DE has got lots of such daily water woes for decades and even in DE 25 June, 2019 there are two items namely “leaking pipes in Damai need urgent repair” and “Department to look into water supply to kg Keliangau”. The inevitable burst pipes may bring benefits to the staff of the water department and the contractors dealing with such emergency assignments to repair them in any hours. Those contractors who break any water pipes should be asked to indemnify such losses in repair and treated water loss.  Is this being done?

It is not fair to always blame the distribution network of old pipelines as leaking in Sabah in recent decades because the authority has expended RM1,674 billions for the period 1993-2002 to renew most of these pipes. My book has a compilation of many articles on public water system improvement and yet today we still face chronic NRW.  What is the hidden agenda?

In a recent federal funding of RM3.3b or RM7.5b (different sources?) for the treated water in Sabah to be enhanced, it was reported that a substantial portion of that allocation had been siphoned down the channel of official corruption or embezzlement. Yet this case handled by MACC since 2016 is still pending in the Courts. Such stolen money should be returned to the Sabah Water Department to continue its mission to improve treated water in Sabah. Is this being done?

Coming back to my research on NRW for my book in 2005, I had requested the Water Department’s accountant to provide me with the billing documents of 1,000 accounts but was rejected even for free effort. I told him he could provide anonymous accounts holders.  Nevertheless, I had written much about NRW and lodged two Police reports on “The RM5 billions water malaise in Sabah 28 Oct 04 KK/RPT/23409/04” and “Non Revenue Water (NRW) KK/rpt/27530/04 21 Dec 2004”.

I also don’t understand why there are so many treated water cuts regularly for maintenance?  It is incredible that consumers have to go through such stressful periods regularly.

I am forced to share this scenario in London for about a decade in the 1970s. You all know London derives its raw water from filthy River Thames and yet never a day I was there never had a brownish treated water from the tap.  Also there was never any treated water cuts.  How did they manage that?

Now we are told by State Infrastructure development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony in front page of Daily Express “Dam, TAED project to proceed” that the development of Tanjung Aru Beach and other areas would need more treated water.  So the dam in Paper would be required.  He also said that the Babagon dam can no longer meet the needs of Kota Kinabalu right now.

While the chronic scenario of NRW is always ignored, we need to consider other options that are practised in other countries trying to conserve water with desalination of sea water, the recycle of used water for the toilets, water from trees, water from air and also harvest of rain water.  This may help to minimise the use of expensive treated water and that certain massive projects can be self sufficient in water needs. Maybe it is a good start to initiate such options in certain parts of Kota Kinabalu.

TAED is a project likely for the rich only and it may sound questionable that the poor folks in Paper may have to sacrifice their homes, farm land and livelihood for a dam.

I have made a great effort in the preparation a researched paper on treated water to an International Science Society event in Kota Kinabalu recently and then I approached IDS Sabah for a public forum initially approved but both unfortunately later had been aborted. So great opportunities lost to share some knowledge on the treated water issues (life giving) in Sabah.

In the context of NRW, we need to review how bottled water using reverse osmosis from public water as subsidised by taxpayers be permitted without incurring some clawback of subsidy?

 I would propose that the State set up a Commission on treated water to get it right on the billions ringgit deals annually.  I hope I can be a founding commissioner.

Joshua Y C Kong 26/6/2019

Set up RCI for double six 1976

Set up RCI for double six 1976

Come every double six or 6th June in Kota Kinabalu, we are reminded the most tragic event in Sabah and Malaysia and that has changed the landscape of Sabah politically, economically, socially, mentally, emotionally and possibly spiritually in a land once so as to speak “peaceful”. We also soon lost our wealth in oil and then Labuan, my homeland.

I was in UK since 1974 until 1980 as a self paying student of ACCA but this event had also change my outlook and possibly my life.  I was sort of much devastated on 6^th June, 1976 when I heard over the news that so and so had perished.

I had earlier written to congratulate TunFuad and his new party for winning the State polls as I had much trouble with the previous regime.  Very surprising in his very busy schedule in the new Government, Tun Fuad had the time and effort to reply to me with a letter dated 4^th June, 1976 amongst so many letters he had received as he wrote in his letter.  Then I was more surprised that a letter came to me in London a few days after 6^th June, 1976. I treasure that letter very much and that is still with me as Tun Fuad did offer much hope to me for a new Government.  I did campaign for a regime change (stigma still with me) in late 1960s to early 1970s.

We all know what had happened on 6^th June, 1976 but until today there is no closure of the case to set the people of Sabah free.  Can any civil court really make any closure to the case?  Maybe confession of those involved in one way or another would enable an appropriate closure.  We know it may not be easy to do that except we heard a confession from someone in the recent gay case in Sandakan soon after its video went viral in the facebook.

Nevertheless, people had come to me with sort of complete or incomplete stories or information about the double six after I returned to KK in 1980 but I remained helpless to take it any way except now I am writing about it.

Most of the people who knew about double six could be no longer in Sabah but some are still around possibly as very senior citizens.  Would these people act on what they know?

A former director of civil aviation department once told me in my office in the 1980s that at the time of the small plane heading to KK airport someone very senior in the civil service once was at the control tower (out-of-bound) and that may explain why the arriving plane was delayed in landing.

So why did the plane possibly with a bomb landed in shallow water?  It would have been different if it fell in deep water not easily visible. Residents in Sembulan could reach the crashed site almost instantly.

If it had not been a bomb in the plane how could the metal portions of the plane be so twisted by sort of excessive force as we saw the broken plane lying in the shallow water with blood everywhere.

Now try this experiment and throw a similar small plane from the same height of that doomed plane and see what happen to the plane.

While we still have some people around with knowledge of the fatal incident, why not install a Royal Commission of Inquiry for a proper closure.  Even the book titled “The golden son of the Kadazan” with vivid descriptions of the tragic incident is banned till today. Why ?  Is there anything to hide?

Is it too late to set up RCI for the double six?  Not so as the very old Bank Negara case was dealt with an RCI decades after.

It is good for all to have a closure even so late than never for the holistic healing.

Joshua Y C Kong  20/6/2019