By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 17: Relevant authorities must stop brushing aside the prolonged water supply woes endured by communities in Sebauh under the pretext of “continuous monitoring” and instead take immediate, serious action to rectify persistent problems such as frequent pipe bursts and unstable water supply.
In a statement today, Dudong assemblyman Dato Sri Tiong King Sing stressed that concrete improvement measures must be implemented without delay, warning against outright denial of the issue or perfunctory responses that fail to resolve the hardship faced by residents.
“I have raised the matter at a recent Divisional Development Committee (DDC) meeting, highlighting repeated complaints from Sebauh residents over recurring pipe bursts, insufficient water pressure and, at times, complete water outages.
“At times, the water quality is also murky like ‘Milo’ and the low water pressure issue becomes even more severe during festive periods,” he said.
Although relevant agencies have claimed there are no problems with the local water supply, Tiong, who is also Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said reports from his team indicate otherwise, with complaints continuing to be received regularly and public dissatisfaction remaining high.
He cautioned that merely increasing water pressure without upgrading ageing and inadequate infrastructure would only exacerbate the problem, leading to more pipe bursts.
“Therefore, I urge the relevant agencies to upgrade and replace the pipelines with larger-capacity pipes as soon as possible, to address the root cause of the water supply problem,” he called on.
Separately, Tiong said he had also called on the Land and Survey Department to thoroughly investigate allegations involving a village head suspected of selling land, adding that he had requested the Resident to review the matter and take firm action in accordance with the law.
He further urged all relevant departments to respect the roles and responsibilities of members of Parliament (MPs) and other elected representatives when handling matters affecting the people’s interests and constituency affairs.
“I fully understand that what the people want is concrete action, not repeated disappointments,” he said, noting that the people of Bintulu have already endured numerous floods, water disruptions and frustrations caused by buck-passing among agencies.
Tiong, who is also Bintulu MP, warned that continued delays and superficial responses would only deepen public resentment, stressing that he and his team would persist in pursuing the issue at both parliamentary and State government levels until a genuine and comprehensive solution is achieved. — DayakDaily
