KUCHING, March 6: The state government is committed to work with the federal government to ensure clean water supply reaches all rural schools in Sarawak.
The state Utilities Ministry, in a statement, said the collaboration was to ensure 100 per cent coverage across the state.
For 2019 and 2020, Sarawak government has allocated RM9 million to connect 34 schools with clean water supply.
“A total of 26 schools have already benefited from the implementation, and for the eight other schools, the completion is expected to be within this year.
“Sarawak’s utilities and education ministries, together with the Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB), will continue to collaborate with the federal government through its Ministry of Education (MoE) and the state Education department to ensure 100 per cent coverage throughout the state by the year 2025,” it said.
The statement also noted that out of the total 1,459 schools in Sarawak, 370 schools in the rural areas are still relying on water supply through tube wells, rainwater harvesting, gravity feed and local water plants.
“To ensure the students and the teachers in those 370 schools can benefit from a continuous, reliable and clean water, the Sarawak government and the federal government have come out with a plan to connect the schools with water supply.”
The ministry said a meeting was chaired by Assistant Minister of Utilities (Water Supply) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi on Wednesday (March 4) to streamline the school water supply project to ensure implementation can be carried out without any hiccup. — DayakDaily
