PAPAR: Cloud seeding needs to be done immediately in Sabah to induce rainfall for water levels at the state’s water treatment plants (LRA) to be increased.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the Sabah government can seek cloud seeding services from its federal counterpart in an effort to resolve the state’s current water supply situation, which has turned critical.
He said if the state technical team has identified the need for cloud seeding, the state government can submit an application to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) for that purpose.
“I am not going to downplay this. The water supply situation in Sabah is at a critical level and the southwest monsoon phenomenon this time will make it even more critical.
“If this (cloud seeding) is not done, many other water treatment plants will be affected,” he told Bernama after a visit to the Limbahau Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) water treatment plant here yesterday.
Armizan, who is Papar MP, said the EWSS LRA had also been affected after water levels at Sungai Papar dropped, causing the plant, which is capable of supplying 10 million litres of clean water a day, to cease operating since last week, affecting more than 19,000 residents from 33 villages in Papar.
He said as an immediate measure, water tanker lorries had been dispatched to public facilities such as village mosques and community halls.
— BERNAMA