Awang Tengah (left) chairing the district meeting.

LAWAS: The Public Works Department has approved RM3.5 million for work to address the problems affecting the supply of treated water in this district.

Public Utilities Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said of the total, RM1 million would go to Gelugus treatment plant while the remaining RM2.5 million would be used to replace leaky pipes.

“The Gelugus plant has to be re-comissioned urgently as the demand for water (in Lawas) has grown significantly.

“For the record, the capacity of the Trusan plant is currently 20MLD (million of litres daily) but there is an anticipation of higher demands for treated water in this district. We need to increase another 30MLD under Phase II (of Trusan Regional Treatment Plant Development) in preparation for any eventuality,” he said after chairing a recent district meeting on status of projects by implementing agencies for the 2014-2015 term.

It is reported that the Gelugus plant was adversely affected by flooding and erosion, resulting in a loss of nearly eight MLD of supply from the district’s reticulated water distribution system.

On the leaky pipes, Awang Tengah said replacement works were crucial in addressing frequent disruption of water supply in Awat Awat and Punang.

“These old distribution pipes are mostly made of asbestos and cannot withstand the pressure from the water mains.”

On another subject, Awang Tengah also Bukit Sari assemblyman said while he was happy with having 540 projects coming to this district, he called on the implementing agencies to have better coordination and team work in raising their standard of delivery.

On this, he instructed Lawas District Office to follow up on late disbursements of funds slated for socio-economic uplifting programmes as there had been numerous queries on applications yet to be attended to, despite them being approved last year.

“It is imperative that the funds are expended within the same year (of approval) not the following year,” he stressed.

On the delayed People’s Aid Project (Bantuan Rakyat) housing scheme in Awat Awat, Awang Tengah said it should be ready by the end of this month.

“There will be no extension of time to be granted this time. The scheme is meant for the victims of Awat Awat fire incidents in 2013 and 2014,” he said.

The minister also highlighted the proposal to build a jetty on a site along the Lawas River across the esplanade in front of Hotel Seri Malaysia here during the meeting, which was also attended by Lawas MP Datuk Henry Sum Agong, Lawas District officer Hussaini Hakim, Lawas Public Works Department engineer Norman Jan as well as district heads of government departments and agencies.