PULAU Gaya residents, who have long depended on vendors who sell treated water from their boats, will now be the first in Sabah to enjoy a prepaid water supply system.

State Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Junz Wong said the system will be used by 510 households in two villages before it is expanded to the rest of the island.

“It is a state Water Department pilot project, starting with two villages – Kg Gaya Asli and Kg Kasuapan.

“Each house will have its own water meter installed. Residents will get to use the amount of water they’ve paid for,” he said after announcing the system at the SK Pulau Gaya Open Hall.

Pulau Gaya folk usually spend between RM150 and RM300 a month on treated water, bought from vendors who get their supply from mainland Sabah.

The boat ride between the island and Kota Kinabalu jetty takes about five minutes.

Wong said there are thousands of residents in far-flung areas, such as Tongod, Papar and Pinangah, who still do not have proper access to treated water.

Pulau Gaya’s water woes made the headlines before last year’s general election. The Public Accounts Committee had found that an allocation exceeding RM100 million to build a supply pipeline was not fully utilised.

The allocation had gone through the Rural Development Ministry, whose minister at the time was Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Shafie, who became Sabah chief minister following the elections, had been detained for eight days by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

The allocation had also included funding for water supply connections to 12,000 homes on the island. It is understood that the then Barisan Nasional state government had halted the individual connections as there were plans to relocate residents to Kinarut, to allow Pulau Gaya to be developed as a resort destination.

Meanwhile, state Water Department director Amarjit Singh said under the prepaid system, water will be sold at RM1.30 per cubic metre, the same rate for apartment owners on the mainland.

“They will only get to use what they’ve paid for. They will have to buy prepaid cards… that are available only through the state Water Department.”

The system’s cost of RM5.3 million will be borne by the state Infrastructure Development Ministry. It will be completed in five months.

Amarjit said the current “standing pipe” system, where a single meter is shared among Pulau Gaya consumers, will be done away with.

On another matter, Wong said the state government can only deal with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd’s (SESB) losses after Putrajaya hands the firm back to the state.

The Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) subsidiary incurs losses amounting to RM45,000 each month due to power theft on Pulau Gaya.

“For the time being, what’s really important is for us to wait for the utility firm to be handed back to the state. It is still under TNB. We are trying to get SESB back as soon as possible,” said Wong.

The federal government has said it wants to return the company to Sabah, as part of the seven Malaysia Agreement 1963-related deals struck between both parties. – September 3, 2019.