KUCHING, April 21 — The Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication will not be tabling a bill on the formation of a single water supply authority in the coming State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting next month.

Minister Datuk Seri Julaihi Narawi said efforts to establish this entity are still in the early stages with the integrated management office (IMO) tasked to merge the state’s water supply agencies.

"We recently formed the IMO to carry out the process of integration and have identified a chief officer to manage this.

"Whatever details (on the water supply entity), we will table them later. But it will not be at this coming DUN sitting,” he told reporters when met at his ministry’s Hari Raya open house at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today.

He also said that the ministry is currently in the midst of identifying the location of the IMO.

"We may park the IMO at our ministry’s office as it’s just a small office where they can carry out their work on the merging process including the legal framework, forming of board members and so on.

"These are the special duties that will be carried out by the IMO,” he said.

Among guests present at the ministry’s Hari Raya open house were DUN Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and wife Puan Sri Fatimah Mohd Iskandar, and Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Henry Harry Jinep.

Last week, Julaihi said the IMO was established to streamline and enhance water supply management in Sarawak so as to have the state’s water supply agencies such as Kuching Water Board, Sibu Water Board and Laku Management Sdn Bhd consolidated under the ministry.

"We will combine all these water supply operators under one entity for the consolidation process which will start this year,” he said then.

He also said that the Rural Water Supply Department will also be included in the integration process at a later stage. — The Borneo Post