A UMS student group had said it would hold a ‘#KamiMahuAir’ protest in front of the Kinabalu Tower state government complex on June 14. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA: Students who plan to protest water shortages at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on June 14 have been urged to reconsider because six alternative tube wells were already prepared, according to deputy higher education minister Mustapha Sakmud.
He said students planning to join the #KamiMahuAir Sabah Assembly protest should obtain accurate facts, Berita Harian reported.
“As the MP for Sepanggar, I am constantly interacting with the water department and I am doing my best to help my constituents obtain clean water,” he added while inspecting the tube well project in Kota Kinabalu.
Mustapha said despite a slight delay the project is now ready to supply water to residential colleges and added that the delay was due to some changes in the design.
“Through these tube wells, we expect to distribute one million litres of water every day. I want to emphasise that these tube wells are only alternatives, besides the clean water from the Sabah water department,” he said.
“All residential colleges are equipped with water storage tanks. When there is a shortage of water, students can directly obtain it from the tanks connected to these tube wells.”
In January, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced RM3 million in funding for the tube well excavation project as an alternative measure to solve water supply disruption issues in all UMS residential colleges.
On June 5, UMS vice-chancellor Kasim Mansor condemned threats by student groups to hold an assembly in protest over the water issue, describing it as unnecessary.
He said the university fundamentally would not tolerate activities that could disturb the peace.
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