By Ling Hui
KUCHING, March 22: A new Water Ordinance to corporatise water in Sarawak will be tabled sometime this year after the state elections, for the good of Sarawak.
Minister of Utilities Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said he was supposed to table the new ordinance last year but the Covid-19 pandemic happened, so the tabling would take place within this year.
“We have planned to table the new Water Ordinance that will give us space to corporatise water.
“This is important because water is not only for drinking, we can also corporatise water in terms of business like in the hydrogen industry and so on.
“Our way forward is to make sure that we are able to prepare the platform for it to actually expand along that line,” he said during the celebration of the state-level World Water Day 2021 at Waterfront Hotel here today.
With that, he said, a single entity will have the state water authority to manage the water supply system in Sarawak.
Adding on, he said the model of operation would be similar to what Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) is doing.
“If you can remember or recall how SESCO came about, and now it has become SEB. So, that model is actually not far to be reached and we have to take tips from there,” he said.
In terms of water development, Dr Rundi expressed confidence in the great future Sarawak will have due to its abundance of water and water’s multiple roles in the power industry. —DayakDaily
