KOTA BARU, May 11 — A large water reservoir is expected to be built in Machang, near here this year to solve the water woes faced by the Kelantan people.

Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the water reservoir construction project allocation would be channelled by the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

He said in principle KASA has given the project the green light.

"This matter had been discussed for the last two years, but there was no agreement from the government. However, this year the ministry has agreed to build this water reservoir,” he told reporters at his office at the Kota Darulnaim Complex today, adding that the value of the allocation would be announced by KASA soon.

He said the water reservoir could solve the water supply woes faced by the people in Kelantan.

Mohd Amar said he hoped the project would succeed because no state government could solve the water supply issue on their own without assistance from the federal government.

"We hope this project will be successful…Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has also permitted the state government to utilise water at the Nenggiri dam for its needs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Amar said the state government needed about RM7 billion to build new plants in areas affected by water problems and also to replace broken pipes.

"In our opinion, this value (RM7 billion) is not a huge amount as Perlis also needs RM3 billion to solve their water problems, and the state (Perlis) is smaller than Kuala Krai (a district in Kelantan),” he said.

"In addition, the network of pipes that need to be repaired is more than 5,000 kilometres and involves a huge cost,” he added. — Bernama