Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud has come out in support of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), saying it is unfair to place the blame for the university’s water crisis solely on its administration.
His comments follow a strongly-worded statement by UMS Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Kasim Mansur, who recently criticised the Sabah Water Department for claiming that the R13 tank, which supplies water to UMS, had “never been empty.”
Kasim had said such remarks were misleading and insulted the university community.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});“I fully support the statement by the UMS Vice-Chancellor. The university has been clear and transparent about the real situation on the ground. It is not fair to simply place the blame on them,” Mustapha said when contacted, Tuesday.
He said the R13 tank belongs to the Sabah Water Department and serves not just UMS, but also nearby areas.
“For UMS alone, they require five million litres of water daily. We know there was a pump breakdown, but it was repaired quickly. Still, the water problem has been going on for a long time,” he said.
Mustapha urged both UMS and the state water authorities to work more closely together to find a lasting solution.
“I propose that UMS and the Sabah Water Department hold regular meetings to resolve this issue. It won’t be solved if we continue with the blaming game,” he said.
He added that student feedback and unrest should be treated as a serious indicator of the situation.
“The scale of complaints from students — leading to demonstrations — shows how serious the problem is. If this issue continues, it means we’ve failed to address it in a rational and effective way,” Mustapha said.
His remarks came days after UMS publicly defended its handling of the crisis, with Kasim outlining the challenges of drawing enough water from the state-run R13 tank, especially as the university sits on higher ground. UMS has a daily demand of between 3.5 and 5 million litres and caters to over 23,000 people each day.
Despite being located on campus grounds, the R13 tank primarily serves other nearby users, and UMS can only begin pumping when the tank level exceeds 0.5 metres — a threshold that is rarely met.
Kasim had also criticised attempts to blame the university’s pumping system, saying all three pumps were in working order and had been maintained.
The prolonged crisis has sparked student anger, with student movement Suara Mahasiswa UMS recently calling on the university to take legal action against the Water Department and demanding RM100 million in damages.
