By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 12: ‘Yellowish like tea, contains sediment, and emits a foul odour’—these were among the complaints received by Milton Foo from Kuching residents regarding tap water in multiple residential and commercial areas in the division in the past 24 hours.
In a press release, Foo, who is the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Complaints Bureau Chief, said that the reports were received from residents in areas such as Pending, Jalan Foochow, Jalan Keranji (Tabuan Desa), Arang Road, 4th Mile, and King Centre
“This has severely affected residents’ basic needs for drinking, cooking, washing, and household hygiene. The people pay their water bills every month and deserve clean, safe tap water that meets Ministry of Health (MoH) standards.
“While we understand that system maintenance and pipe bursts may occur, continuous turbid or murky water over several days is unacceptable. If handled improperly, it could lead to gastrointestinal illnesses, increase household costs, and further erode public confidence in public services,” he said.
Therefore, Foo has urged the relevant parties to take the following immediate action:
- Sarawak Water and the Department of Health have been urged to immediately deploy officers to collect samples from affected areas and publish findings to the public within 24 hours. This must include the cause of turbidity, whether chlorine residual or heavy metals exceed safe limits, a map of affected areas, and a clear timeline for restoration of clean water supply.
- Sarawak Water must set up mobile water treatment stations in affected communities.
- Sarawak Water has been called to establish a 24-hour dedicated hotline for turbid water complaints.
- Intervention from the Sarawak Ministry for Utility and Telecommunication, including instructing Sarawak Water to resolve the issue within a deadline.
Foo then said that if the problem is not resolved within seven days, he will work with the affected residents and communities by compiling evidence and submitting it to the relevant authorities to be looked into.
He also urged affected residents to record videos or take pictures of discoloured tap water with the date, time, and location clearly disclosed.
“What the people want is simple—turn on the tap and get clean water, not anxiety.”
On June 7, Sarawak Water explained that the issue is believed to have been caused by muddy water and sediment disturbances within the distribution pipeline system following changes in water flow and the ongoing stabilisation process of the water supply system.
The utility provider added that it has mobilised its operations and technical teams have been mobilised to carry out intensive flushing works (water pipe cleaning) at various affected locations following an increase in complaints regarding discoloured water in several areas of the Kuching Division. — DayakDaily
