PUTRAJAYA, Sept 25 — The government is identifying a new system that can be used to provide clean water supply to the people in the interior of Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak in five years’ time.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar said the system would be developed in collaboration with the private sector.

"The clean water sources in (the interior of) Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak are at a critical level. So, we need a sustainable and cost-saving system to solve the problem.

"The Kelantan people came to see me and asked the federal government to provide clean water to them,” he said after officiating the 4th Water Management Forum here today.

Jayakumar said so far, 97 per cent of the Malaysian population had access to clean and treated water while those living in the interior of the three states accounted for the remainder.

He said in order to ensure continuous supply of raw water, the ministry had also identified several alternative sources namely rainwater harvesting and underground water. — Bernama