Kuching to get centralised sewerage system

-The Star- By SHARON LING

KUCHING: Sarawak is introducing a centralised sewerage system in Kuching to reduce pollution of the city’s waterways from untreated wastewater.

State Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin said Package 1 of the system was currently under construction and would be completed by Oct 2012.

He said the system would address the deteriorating water quality of the city’s rivers and streams due to the discharge of untreated or partially treated wastewater.

Currently, blackwater from toilets is only partially treated in conventional septic tanks while greywater from bathrooms, kitchens and washing areas was discharged without treatment.

Under the new system, wastewater will be collected and transported to a treatment plant where it will be treated to the Department of Environment’s Standard A for effluent discharge.

Standard A is deemed clean and safe for water-based activities.

“As such, the implementation of the project will manage water pollution and improve the quality of Sungai Sarawak and other rivers to ensure a sustainable environment for city folk,” Manyin said at the project launch at the Civic Centre here Tuesday.

He added that the RM530mil Package 1 was funded by the Federal government under the Ninth Malaysia Plan with Kumpulan-Nishimatsu-Hock Seng Lee Consortium as the turnkey contractor.

Package 1 covers the commercial and densely-populated areas of the central business district and comprises a centralised wastewater treatment plant, a sewer network and property connections to the new sewer lines.

He also said the state government planned to extend the project under the 10th Malaysia Plan, with a proposed Package 2 covering the areas east and west of the city centre and Package 3 covering the northern bank of Sungai Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who launched the project, said it was part of the government’s efforts to continue improving liveability standards in the city.

“Kuching’s population is now nearing 600,000 people and it will become more densely populated in the future.

“One of our biggest challenges is to provide good clean water and to do this we need to introduce the centralised sewerage scheme,” he said.