KOTA KINABALU, March 31 — The dam on Pulau Sebatik, near Tawau, which has dried up since early this year, is back in operation at a minimum rate, with a production of 0.3 million litres per day, said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.

The State Public Works Minister said this was possible following a cloud seeding operation carried out last Thursday, which also produced rain in several catchment areas including Tawau.

“This is a good sign because Pulau Sebatik is one of the areas in Sabah that has been relatively dry since the beginning of the year, apart from Papar.

“We hope that with the transition of the monsoon, the change in weather and the arrival of more rain, the level of the dam will rise and the (water treatment) plant will be able to process water at a higher rate,” he told reporters after breaking fast orphans from the As Sakinah Orphanage and members of the media here last night.

Shahelmey also said that the Sabah Water Department will continue to distribute water supply from underground water using tankers to areas affected by the drought.

Elaborating on the cloud seeding operation, Shahelmey said it succeeded in producing rain in several districts, including Papar, Lahad Datu and Kota Kinabalu.

“However, we have not been able to ascertain whether the rain has fallen in the catchment area. We pray that there will be more rain as we enter April and the Department of Meteorology has stated that we are in the transition phase of the monsoon.

“This is our hope for rain to fall, especially in the rain catchment areas so that it can function again in sufficient quantity,” he said.

In another development, Shahelmey said the RM320 million allocation from the federal government to Sabah to implement a short-term plan to deal with water issues in the state is now in the value management stage.

He said at the management phase last week, eight initiatives were approved to be implemented to solve part of the water problem in Sabah.

Shahelmey said a pilot project was implemented in Sepanggar, among others, to see the effectiveness of cutting illegal pipe connections to reduce non-revenue water in the state. — Bernama