KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — The water supply at the main campus of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has been fully restored and is ready to meet the needs of current and new students for the 2024/2025 intake, which is expected to begin registering in early October.

According to Malaysia Gazette, UMS Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Kasim Mansor, said that the daily water reading records conducted by the UMS Development and Maintenance Department (JPP) indicated that the treated water supply from the Sabah State Water Department (Jans) is currently stable and sufficient.

"The trend of water supply from Jans obtained by UMS has increased since January 2024 compared to before, and is currently stable, consistent, and sufficient at an average of 5 million litres per day (MLD).

"The construction project for tube wells funded as announced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Minister of Higher Education has also been completed and is functioning well,” he was quoted as saying.

Kasim also the tube well water supply serves as an alternative to reduce the impact on students in the event of Jans water supply disruptions due to planned maintenance work, scheduled maintenance, or unavoidable incidents.

"Based on the stable and consistent Jans water supply developments and the alternative tube well water supply that has been completed and is running smoothly, UMS currently has no water supply issues.

Based on Malaysia Gazette estimates, the current population within the main UMS campus, which covers approximately 999 acres with about 70 per cent of the area developed, is approximately 20,000 people daily.

With this figure in mind, the water requirement on the main UMS campus is around 3MLD to 5MLD per day.

UMS has been facing water supply issues for years due to insufficient supply from the Telibong Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Tuaran.

The insufficient supply and low water pressure in the large tank have prevented water from being pumped and distributed to the surrounding pipes.

The Sepanggar Parliamentary area, including UMS, is most affected by the water shortage in the northern part of Kota Kinabalu city due to its location at the end of the water pipeline system starting from the Telibong WTP.

Since 2021, UMS has spent millions of ringgit to reduce supply disruptions, such as purchasing water, repairing tanks and pumps, and sourcing groundwater.

The severe water issues have prompted students to demonstrate, urging for the issue to be addressed immediately.

Last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim approved an allocation of RM3 million to UMS to tackle the water issue and increased the allocation by another RM2 million this year.