Sarawak water coverage tops 99% in towns but reaches 72% in rural areas
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Sarawak’s urban water coverage has passed 99 per cent, but the rural figure stands at 72 per cent, leaving a substantial gap behind the statewide infrastructure spending totals.
Deputy Premier Douglas Uggah Embas gave the figures during his ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Oct 21, DayakDaily reported. He said RM3.231 billion had been spent as of September under the Water Supply Grid Programme for Stressed Areas, which involves overall investment of about RM4 billion.
A further RM1.085 billion allocation was identified for replacing ageing pipes, with 237.68 kilometres already replaced. That is a separate progress measure from coverage: the length of pipe renewed does not say which remaining communities have gained a connection.
Uggah also reported 99.7 per cent electricity coverage statewide and 99.3 per cent in rural areas under the Rural Electrification Scheme. Spending under that scheme had reached RM2.178 billion by the third quarter of 2026. The two utility figures show that rural electricity coverage and water coverage are at very different stages.
For rural households, the water figure is a coverage benchmark, not a promise of a connection date or uninterrupted supply at a particular address. The update did not set out a village-by-village timetable for closing the remaining gap.
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