Brunei has highest water usage rate in SE Asia

Ak Md Khairuddin Pg Harun
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI’S water usage is at 420-450 litres/day per person — the highest in Southeast Asia — said Acting Director of the Department of Water Services (DWS) yesterday.

Speaking to The Brunei Times, Alice Lim said Brunei had a sufficient supply of water because of the country’s developed water supplies infrastructure.

One of the reasons for Brunei’s high consumption of water was because of accessibility, she said.

After Brunei achieved independence in 1984, one of the targets set by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam was to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to improving access to water, sanitation, power and sources of energy, said the acting director.

“After independence, His Majesty started work to achieve sufficient water supplies for the country. The development of infrastructure for water supplies kept ahead of population growth. That’s why we always have sufficient water supply,” she said.

She said that the government had taken initiatives to improve the water system infrastructure to cater the needs of the population.

The accessibility of water was also mentioned in a recent Friday sermon.

The sermon said that as water was easily accessible in Brunei it made Bruneians take it for granted and resort to using it excessively.

Asked about ways to conserve water, Lim urged members of the public to cooperate with the DWS especially when they encounter pipe leakages.

“Pipe leakages cannot be detected by the department alone, she said. They have to be reported by members of the public.”

She also encouraged members of the public to send in photos to the department when they encounter pipe bursts or leakages anywhere in Brunei regardless of how small they are.

“There is a shift in the mindset of the public on the importance of water now. People are concerned about water and I think our department has received a lot of public cooperation on this issue,” she said.

Today, Brunei is celebrating World Water Day to remind the public about the importance of conserving water as well as educating them on proper water usage.

According to the department’s website, the Public Works Department provides 99.9 per cent of potable water to the people of Brunei Darussalam (including 0.2 per cent of rural water supply).

DWS is responsible in overseeing the planning, design and managing the country’s water resources to ensure sustainability and adequate resources to meet future demand.

This includes protection and conserving the existing and future potential resources.

In case of water supply disruptions, she said that members of the public should contact the Darussalam Hotline 123.


Sumber - The Brunei Times