Kelantan water woes to be fully resolved in 30-40 years, says minister
The Water and Environment Ministry has estimated that a comprehensive solution to Kelantan's water supply woes will only be reached in the next three to four decades.
Its minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (above) said steps are being taken in stages as part of efforts to offer relief to the people in Kelantan...
The Water and Environment Ministry has estimated that a holistic solution to Kelantan's water supply woes will be reached in the next three to four decades.
Its minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (above) said steps are being taken in stages as part of efforts to offer relief to the people in Kelantan.
"The pipes in Kelantan are too old, I think (they are) about 40 years old and so they will incur a large cost to replace.
"If we don't replace them then the problem will not be solved," said the PAS deputy president, adding that the water supply issue in the party's stronghold state is among the ministry's priorities.
"It also includes the problems of existing reservoirs that need to be enlarged, the high capacity of people in Kelantan requires continuous supply and we target for a solution in the next 30 to 40 years.
"InsyaAllah it will be done," he said at a press conference after meeting with Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob and the state’s executive councillors at Kompleks Kota Darulnaim, Kota Bharu, today.
An aide to Tuan Ibrahim later clarified that what the minister meant was ongoing measures taken are expected to alleviate water problems in Kelantan for the next 30 to 40 years.
Overall, Tuan Ibrahim said the ministry would require RM7.3 billion in allocation to execute its planned projects.
He said the ministry will be submitting an application for the allocation to the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department, for it to be included in the 12th Malaysia Plan.
"The overall allocation involved several big projects including the three-phase flood retention project in Tumpat, Rantau Panjang, and Pasir Mas.
"Aside from that, in Tunjung, RM600 million has been approved for an integrated sewerage project and other projects related to flood and water supply issues," he said, adding that work is in progress with phase one scheduled for completion in October.
In another 30-40 years some of our primary school children could be grandparents already! As an old Chinese saying goes, the forefathers plant the trees, the later generations get to shelter under the trees. Nice.
This, sir, is leadership that legends are made of. I am sure that as you shared the promise of 40 years, of eternity and beyond as Buzz Lightyear may have said, the good folks from Wakaf Mek Zainab to Pa’an Cepa to ‘Antau Panjeh would have been deliriously in tears, choking on their kerupok, that within the proverbial blink of the camel’s eye, Kelantan’s water problems would be a distant if fond memory. The Ancient Mariner must have had Kota Bahgu in mind when he lamented about water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink. Pay no heed to the naysayers and commentators here in Malaysiakini who seem to be hooting at your far-sighted, very far-sighted plans to transform your state into an Eden fraught with streams and creeks and babbling brooks where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play. These negative mind-sets will learn their hard lesson soon enough when they are dragged off to the courts as others before them. I am confident that Kelantan’s victory over Covid-19 and Mat rempitism will not make you complacent. Nevertheless, caution would be wise, one must be prepared for inevitable changes the years would bring. RM7.3 billion may prove an overly frugal estimate; after the budget flow has cascaded over the fords and weirs of brothers-in-law, uncles, and meks next door, total cost would surely swell to considerably more within the next 3 years. Worse, those damn Germans would come out with better and somewhat more expensive Mercedes Benz models. Pretty pink would be a nice shade.
30-40 years??!! Kelantanese would have died of thirst by then.?
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